Southern Indian train accident death toll soars to 14
Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conduct a rescue operation at the site of a train crash in Vizianagaram district of India's Andhra Pradesh state, Oct. 30, 2023. (AFP Photo)


Officials have reported that a train accident in southern India on Sunday night resulted in the loss of at least 14 lives and left over 50 individuals injured.

The incident, involving two trains, occurred in Andhra Pradesh state, according to Indian Railways and government officials.

Fourteen people died in the accident, a senior civil official in the state’s Vizianagaram district told Anadolu Agency (AA) by phone on Monday.

A spokesperson of Indian Railways, Biswajit Sahu, said that over 50 people were injured and that rescue efforts had concluded, with the focus now being on track restoration work.

Earlier, Indian Railways had said a Visakhapatnam-Palasa passenger train and Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger Special were involved. A railways spokesperson said the likely reason is "human error and the overshooting of the signal by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train."

"Two coaches of the Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger train from the rear and the loco of the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train got derailed," it said.

The incident is the second one this month. Four people were killed earlier this month after the coaches of a passenger train derailed in Bihar state.

In June, in eastern Odisha state, an accident involving two passenger trains and a freight train left more than 290 people dead and over 1,000 injured.