Death toll of India’s triple train collision rises to 288

The death toll of the catastrophic triple train collision in India’s eastern state of Odisha, has grown to 288 by Saturday morning, Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of the Odisha state fire department announced.

The official added that more than 850 were injured.

Images from the crash site showed smashed train compartments torn open with blood-stained holes near Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha.

Carriages had flipped over entirely in the crash late on Friday and rescue workers searched for survivors trapped in the mangled wreckage, with scores of bodies laid out under white sheets beside the tracks.

As dawn broke on Saturday, rescue workers were able to see the full extent of the carnage.

India is no stranger to railway accidents and has seen several disasters, the worst of them in 1981, when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar and plunged into the river below, killing between 800 and 1,000 people. But Friday’s crash is believed to be the worst since the 1990s.

E.M