Andhra train accident: 13 dead, 50 injured; collision likely due to human error

The casualty in the Andhra Pradesh train accident has risen to 13 as four more people have died. This was stated by the Vizianagaram Superintendent of Police on Monday. Of the dead, seven have already been identified while the process of identification for the remaining people is underway. 

A total of 54 people have been injured in the accident, of whom, 39 were admitted to the Vizianagaram hospital and the rest to other hospitals for treatment, Vizianagaram Collector said.

According to preliminary information, the reason for the collision is suspected to be human error owing to the overshooting of the signal by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada train.

The accident happened after a collision between two trains caused the derailment of bogies in Vizianagaram district on Sunday.

Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw also shared updates of the rescue operation on X. He mentioned that 11 coaches from the front of the 08532 Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger train have reached Vizianagaram's next station, Alamanda, while nine rear coaches of the 08504 Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger train have been pulled back to the previous station, Kantakapalle. "Other than the derailed and affected coaches, all cleared from the site," his X post read.

"Rescue operations are underway. All passengers shifted. PM Narendra Modi reviewed the situation. Spoke to the CM of Andhra Pradesh (YS Jagan Mohan Reddy), [the] state government and railway teams are working in close coordination," Vaishnaw wrote in another post on the microblogging site.

Several trains across India have been diverted, cancelled or short terminated in the wake of the train tragedy, the Ministry of Railways informed on X. The Railways have shared seven bulletins on X, in which details of all train services that have been affected due to the accident are given.