At least 15 people have died and dozens of others have been injured due to a collision between a passenger train and a commercial goods train in West Bengal state of India on Monday, June 17 (August 28).

In the local media, pictures of these trains have been shown, the stones of which have fallen off the track and are lying on top of each other.

The police say that the search for survivors continues at the scene.

“We have confirmed that seven people died and 39 injured people were transferred to the hospital,” local police chief Iftikhar Al Hassan told AFP earlier.

Rajesh Kumar Singh, a Railway Protection Authority official, told AFP: “We found the bodies of one train driver and one guard who were pulled out. There may be other bodies at the accident site.”

In a message published on social networks, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to those who lost their loved ones in this incident and added that “rescue operations are underway.”

It is the latest deadly incident on India’s aging railway system, which millions of people use every day.

‘deplorable’

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called this incident “deplorable” in a message published on social networks.

“Doctors, ambulances and rescue teams have been dispatched to the area to help and rescue operations have started,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee said that the accident took place in Phansidwa area of ​​Darjeeling when a freight train collided with a passenger train named “Kanchenjunga Express”.

India has one of the largest railway networks in the world, which has witnessed many deadly incidents in recent years. The deadliest incident occurred in 1981 when a train fell off a bridge in Bihar state, killing around 800 people.

In June last year, at least 300 people were killed in a collision between three trains in the state of Odisha.

India has invested heavily in modernizing its rail network in recent years and plans to install new stations and improved traffic signal systems for trains.