Deadliest Rail Accidents: Odisha's Balasore witnessed one of the most devastating train accidents in India, claiming the lives of nearly 300 passengers and leaving nearly 1,000 injured.
This tragic incident occurred on Friday i.e. June 02 when three trains collided.
Among the trains involved were the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train.
The Indian rail network, which accommodates the travel needs of thousands of passengers daily, stands as one of the most extensive railway networks in the world.
The profound impact and dire consequences of this devastating collision have left the community in a state of shock and sorrow.
India has experienced numerous heart-wrenching train accidents that have resulted in substantial loss of life and raised grave concerns regarding safety measures.
Below, we present the details of some of the deadliest rail accidents in India during recent decades.
On June 6, 1981, Bihar experienced one of the country's deadliest train accidents. During a cyclone in Balaghat, at least 800 people lost their lives when seven out of nine bogies of an overcrowded passenger train derailed from a bridge and plunged into the Baghmati River.
On July 8, 1988, a heart-wrenching incident unfolded near Quilon in southern India, as an express train met with a tragic fate. The Peruman railway accident occurred when a train derailed on the Peruman bridge over the monsoon-swollen Ashtamudi Lake in Kerala.
As a result, ten carriages of the train plunged into the water, leading to the devastating loss of at least 106 lives.
On August 20, 1995, the Purushottam Express collided with the Kalindi Express near Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh. The accident caused the deaths of at least 350 people and injured numerous passengers.
In Khanna, Punjab, a devastating incident occurred when the Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express collided with three derailed coaches of the Frontier Golden Temple Mail. The collision resulted in the tragic loss of 212 lives.
On August 2, 1999, a tragic incident unfolded at the remote station of Gaisal in West Bengal when two trains collided.
At approximately 1:45 am, due to a signalling error, the Avadh Assam Express from New Delhi collided with the Brahmaputra Mail at Gaisal railway station in Uttar Dinajpur.
It is noteworthy that on that particular day, three out of the four tracks on the line were closed for maintenance, forcing both trains to share the same track.
The collision occurred with such force that the trains exploded upon impact, resulting in the devastating loss of nearly 300 lives.
In Andhra Pradesh, a tragic incident unfolded near Velugonda when several coaches of a passenger train derailed while attempting to cross tracks that had been washed away by a flood. The catastrophic event led to the loss of nearly 100 lives, with an additional 92 individuals sustaining injuries.
On July 10, 2011, a tragic incident unfolded near Fatehpur, resulting in the loss of approximately 70 lives and leaving over 300 people injured. At around 12:20, the Howrah-Kalka Mail, consisting of 15 coaches, derailed near Malwan.
A tragic incident occurred on May 22, 2012, near Andhra Pradesh involving the Hampi Express. During the mishap, a cargo train collided with the Hubli-Bangalore Hampi Express.
The collision resulted in approximately 25 fatalities and around 43 injuries due to the train derailment.
In the Sant Kabir Nagar area of Uttar Pradesh, a tragic incident occurred on May 26, 2014. The Gorakhdham Express, en route to Gorakhpur, collided with a stationary goods train near Khalilabad station.
The collision led to the loss of 25 lives and left over 50 individuals injured.
In the early hours of November 20, 2016, a tragic incident unfolded near Pukhrayan, Kanpur, when the Indore–Patna Express derailed.
The devastating derailment occurred at approximately 03:10 local time, resulting in the heartbreaking loss of nearly 150 lives and leaving more than 200 individuals injured.
The Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed in Muzaffarnagar on August 19, killing 23 and injuring around 60.
14 coaches of the train derailed near Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh during the incident, which occurred at 5:45 pm. The train was travelling from Puri to Haridwar.
Tragedy struck on January 21, 2017, in southern Andhra Pradesh as several coaches of the Hirakhand Express 18448 derailed near the village of Kuneru in Vizianagaram.
The passenger train, which was en route from Jagdalpur to Bhubaneswar, met with a devastating accident, resulting in the unfortunate loss of at least 41 lives.
On August 23, 2017, a train accident occurred near Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, involving the Delhi-bound Kaifiyat Express. As a result of a collision with a dump truck on the tracks, nine coaches of the Kaifiyat Express derailed, causing a minimum of 70 injuries.
During a tragic incident in Amritsar, a passenger train collided with a crowd that had gathered on the tracks to witness the burning of effigies for the festival of Dussehra.
The accident occurred in the early evening, resulting in the devastating loss of at least 59 lives and leaving approximately 57 individuals injured.