Nine killed in India train crash

[John Ashworth]

BBC 20 September 2010 Last updated at 04:32 GMT

Nine killed in India train crash

At least nine people have died in a train crash in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The collision took place when a goods train crashed into a passenger train waiting at the Bhaderwah railway station in Shivpuri district.

Railway officials said the accident occurred early on Monday when it was raining heavily.

The cause of the crash is not known. Rescue operations are on and a relief train has been sent to the site.

"The accident took place when a goods train rammed into the stationary Gwalior Intercity Express from the front side at around 4:40am [2310GMT] amid heavy rains and poor visibility," news agency AFP quoted railway spokesman KK Dubey as saying.

"Nine bodies have been brought out of the two mangled coaches that have been badly damaged and about 30 injured have been sent to various nearby hospitals for treatment," the agency quoted Shivpuri police superintendent Rajendra Prasad as saying.

Accidents are common on the state-owned Indian railway, an immense network connecting every corner of the vast country.

It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day.

In July, a train crash in eastern India killed at least 60 people and injured another 120. A speeding passenger express hit another train waiting at a station in the town of Sainthia, West Bengal state.

In May, nearly 150 people died when a Bombay-bound passenger train derailed and was hit by a goods train in West Bengal. Police accused Maoist rebels of sabotaging the track, but Maoists denied the charge.