At least 13 killed, 70 injured as train derails in MP town

While Railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav said in Patna that 16 people were killed, an official statement said 13 people were ‘‘reported dead’’ .

So far 13 bodies have been recovered as rescuers, including Red Cross workers, local residents and BSF men, using cranes and gas-cutters were trying to open two badly mangled bogies to look for survivors. Officials do not rule out the possibility of the toll going up as the operations continue.

Apart from passengers, some passersby were also feared to have been killed. While ten people with critical injuries were referred to Gwalior, 30 were admitted to hospitals in Jhansi and 35 were treated at Datia, Divisional Railway Manager U K Singh said.

The driver of the train, who was among the dead, apparently relayed word about failure in brakes, the sources said, adding that the exact cause of the accident will be known only after a probe.

Railway board chairman J P Bhatra said the train while entering Datia station on a loop line was running at a very high speed and could not halt where it was supposed to, crashing into a dead-end.

Ravishankar, who was headed for Gwalior, recalled: ‘‘Initially, all I could see was dust. When it cleared, I saw one of my co-passengers. He was dead, his neck twisted. I didn’t know his name and it occurred to me that I could have been in his place. I jumped out and ran.’’

Pradeep Tripathi, who has a shop near the accident site, recalled a ‘‘huge bang’’ and ‘‘then I saw a train sliding into people at the crossing and into the signal cabin.’’

(With PTI)