At least 275 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a train collision in the city of Balasore, India, Friday. After two passenger trains collided, one struck a stationary freight train at full speed and derailed itself.
This particular train crash is one of the worst train crashes in India in 20 years. According to India’s railways minister, the derailment was caused by an error in the train signaling system.
Other deadly train collisions since 2013 include a crash in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2016 which killed 146, a collision in Congo’s Katanga province with 136 deaths and another in Spain’s Santiago de Compostela which killed 80.
India has one of the biggest rail networks in the world, and in order to prevent derailments, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated himself to improving rail safety problems. India recorded zero passenger deaths in rail accidents from 2020 for two years until Friday’s crash.
