Dozens Injured in Tamil Nadu Train Accident

Arun Sankar K./Associated Press Rescue workers gathered at the site of a train accident at Sitheri in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

CHENNAI, Tamil Nadu â€" One person was killed and at least 27 people were injured early Wednesday morning after the derailment of nearly half of the coaches of a 24-car train traveling from the eastern state of Bihar to the southern state of Karnataka.

The cause of the accident of the Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur train has yet to be determined, two senior railway authorities said by telephone, requesting anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. One of them said that, it was unlikely to be due to driver’s negligence and was largely expected to be a technical glitch that led to derailment.

The accident occurred close to 6 a.m., nearly 90 kilometers (56 miles) to the west of Chennai at Sitheri station.

Television reports showed several blue train cars lying on their sides by the railway track and rescue workers in helmets and orange jackets working among broken windows and upturned rail cars.

“There was a strange sound like the train was going off the track, and when I realized it, the train started going in reverse,” one of the injured told the IBN Live TV channel.

S. Ramprakash, chief medical officer of Southern Railway, told IBN Live TV that the injured shall be given medical treatment by the railroad and will be offered compensation.

The track at Sitheri station heading westward in the direction of Yesvantpur in Karnataka, the final destination of the train, is likely to remain closed until Thursday morning.

Several trains will be delayed or canceled, one of the railway officials said. The eastbound track to Chennai was still functioning, he added. “We are working with cranes to restore the site by tomorrow afternoon.”

The derailment occurred soon after the train left the Arakkonam junction, 90 kilometers from Chennai, where it was scheduled to depart at 5:30 a.m. It was expected to arrive in Yesvantpur, five kilometers from Bangalore, before noon.

The Indian Railways network, one of the world’s largest, is the primary form of transport for millions of Indians, spanning the length and breadth of the country. Running nearly 10,000 trains a day, the railroad company is also one of the biggest employers in India, with almost a million workers.