Hundreds dead in Indian train wreck

At least 275 people died and hundreds more were injured when trains collided on Friday in the Balasore district of Odisha, a state in eastern India. Injured passengers filled nearby hospitals while relatives searched for loved ones who had been on the train. 

What caused the crash? A faulty electronic signaling system directed the passenger train onto the wrong track, where it collided with a freight train carrying iron ore. Cars derailed onto an adjacent track, colliding with a third passenger train. Hundreds of train wrecks occur annually in India despite government efforts to improve rail safety. India has the world’s largest train network under one management, with 40,000 miles of tracks.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in WORLD Magazine assessing the safety of U.S railroads after a derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.