20 people remain stuck in mangled coaches of Indian train
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At least 20 people still remained stuck in some of the coaches of the Mumbai-bound Howrah- Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express train, which derailed early Friday morning in West Bengal in eastern India, killing 65 passengers and injuring over 200, said officials.
The West Bengal state government has sent sharp gas cutters to extricate the bodies of the ill-fated passengers from the badly- smashed remains of the coaches.
The spot of the incident presented a horrific sight. Some bodies of the passengers could be seen scattered on the tracks.
The train had 24 coaches out of which as many as 13 coaches derailed. Further out of these 13, five were hit by a goods train, sources in the South Eastern Railway said.
"As many as five of the 13 derailed coaches fell on an adjacent track and were badly smashed by a goods train which came from the opposite direction," West Bengal Home Secretary Samar Ghosh elaborated.
"An unreserved coach, the pantry car and luggage van also got derailed," Soumitra Majumdar, South Eastern Railway spokesman, said.
Passengers from other unaffected coaches of the train were seen having hot exchanges with the relief officials who apparently reached the spot very late.
The unaffected coaches were being used to ferry the injured passengers to the Kharagpur government hospital.
A team of 20 doctors and 25 paramedics has already reached the spot and is providing first aid and trauma support.
A relief train from Kharagpur is also attending to the injured passengers."Prima facie the tragedy is a result of sabotage. Primary investigation suggests that fish plates were taken off at the derailment site to cause sabotage," Ghosh said.
When the incident took place at 01:30 am on Friday, the Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express was passing through Sardiya railway station of West Bengal.
Indian Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has stated that the derailment was caused by a blast triggered apparently by the Naxal guerrillas.
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