At Least 13 Dead, More Than 100 Injured After Passenger Train Derails in India

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Oliver Darcy.

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NEW DELHI (AP) — A passenger train derailed in western India on Sunday, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 100, an official said.

The engine and four coaches jumped the tracks near Roha station, 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Mumbai, said police officer Ankush Shinde.

The rescuers used gas cutters to open the derailed coaches to reach those trapped inside. Big cranes were deployed to remove these coaches from the rail track, Shinde said.

Diwa-Sawantwadi passenger train derails in Maharashtra's Raigad. Helpline number | Thane: 022-25334840 pic.twitter.com/encyluQZZe

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) May 4, 2014

Two of the derailed coaches tilted on one side and one overturned, said railway spokesman Anil Kumar Saxena.

The rescue operation was continuing and the death toll was expected to rise, Shinde said.

Saxena said that 123 injured passengers, some of them in serious condition, were taken to a hospital.

The cause of the derailment was not immediately known. Rail authorities ordered an investigation into the accident, Saxena said.

Train movement in the area was suspended as the derailed coaches and the rescue operation blocked an adjacent track as well.

Railway accidents are common in India, which has one of the world's largest train networks and serves 20 million passengers a day. Most accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error.

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