43 major train tragedies in two decades

NEW DELHI - There have been at least 43 major train tragedies, including accidents and terror attacks, since 1990 in India, where railways run over 19,000 trains every day.

In the early hours of Monday, the Sealdah-bound Uttar Banga Express rammed into the Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express at Sainthia station in West Bengal, killing 60 passengers and injuring over 150 others. Here is the chronology of the major train tragedies in the last two decades.

May 28, 2010: Suspected Maoist rebels sabotaged a track in West Bengal’s Jhargram area, causing a passenger train to derail and be hit by a cargo train leaving 150 dead.

Jan 2, 2010: Four people were killed and more than 40 others injured in two separate rail accidents due to dense fog in Uttar Pradesh.

Oct 21, 2009: At least 15 people were killed and over 20 others injured when two trains collided near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.

July 11, 2006: At least 137 people were killed and more than 300 others injured when seven powerful bombs ripped through crowded commuter trains in Mumbai.

Oct 29, 2005: At least 100 people were killed when a passenger train derailed and fell into an overflowing river in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh in south India.

June 16, 2004: Mumbai-bound Matsyagandha Express goes off the track over a bridge in Maharashtra’s Raigarh district killing 20 people and injuring over 60.

July 2, 2003: At least 22 passengers and motorists were killed in Andhra Pradesh when the engine and two coaches of a train fell off a bridge crushing vehicles passing underneath.

June 22, 2003: In the first major accident on the Konkan Railway, 53 people, including three children, were killed and 25 injured when the engine and three coaches of the Karwar-Mumbai Central Holiday Special train derailed in Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra.

May 15, 2003: A burst stove caused a devastating fire that swept through a speeding passenger train in Punjab, killing 40 people and injuring more than 50.

Jan 3, 2003: Eighteen killed as three coaches of an express train derail in south-central Maharashtra.

Sep 10, 2002: One hundred and twenty are killed when the Kolkata-New Delhi Rajdhani Express derails over a bridge in Bihar.

June 4, 2002: Thirty-four killed when the Kasgunj Express crashes into a bus at a rail crossing.

May 12, 2002: Twelve killed when the New Delhi-Patna Shramjeevi Express derails while passing over a bridge in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.

June 22, 2001: Forty people killed when the Mangalore-Chennai Mail tumbled into Kadalundi river near Kozhikode in Kerala.

Dec 3, 2000: Forty-six killed and over 130 injured as the Howrah-Amritsar Mail rams into a derailed goods train between Sarai Banjara and Sadhugarh in Punjab.

Aug 2, 1999: Two hundred and eighty-six killed and 359 injured in a collision involving Awadh-Assam Express and Brahmaputra Mail at Gaisal in North Frontier Railway’s Katihar division.

July 16, 1999: Seventeen killed and over 200 injured as the new Delhi-bound Grand Trunk Express from Chennai collides with derailed wagons of a goods train near Mathura.

Nov 26, 1998: Over 200 people die as Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express rams into three derailed bogies of Amritsar-bound Frontier Golden Temple Mail near Ludhiana in Punjab.

Sep 24, 1998: Twenty people, including 14 school children, killed and 33 injured when a train engine rams into an bus at an unmanned level-crossing near Bottalaapalem village in Andhra Pradesh.

Aug 13, 1998: Nineteen killed and 27 injured as a bus rams into the Chennai-Madurai Express train at an unmanned level-crossing on the new Karur-Salem bypass road on the outskirts of Karur town.

April 24, 1998: Twenty four killed and 32 injured at Parali Vaijanath railway station in Maharashtra as 15 wagons of a goods train ram into the Manmad-Kachiguda Express.

April 4, 1998: Eleven people killed on Howrah-Delhi main line as Howrah-Danapur Express derails between Fatuha and Bankaghat stations in Bihar.

Sep 14, 1997: Eight-one killed as five bogies of the Ahmedabad-Howrah Express plunge into a river in Bilaspur district of Madhya Pradesh.

July 28, 1997: Twelve people killed in a collision involving Karnataka Express and Himsagar Express near Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi.

July 8, 1997: Thirty-three people killed in bomb blast on a passenger train at Lehra Khanna railway station in Bhatinda district in Punjab.

Dec 30, 1996: Thirty-three people killed in a bomb blast on the Brahmaputra mail between Kokrajahar and Fakiragram stations in Assam.

May 25, 1996: Twenty-five killed as an Allahabad-bound passenger train rams into a tractor-trolley at an unmanned level crossing near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

May 14, 1996: Thirty-five of a marriage party killed as bus carrying them collides with the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam train at an unmanned level-crossing near Alappuzha in Kerala.

April 18, 1996: Sixty killed as Gorakhpur-Gonda passenger train rams into a stationary goods train at Donengarh near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Aug 20, 1995: Three hundred and two killed as Delhi-bound Purushottam Express rams into the stationary Kalindi Express near Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh.

June 1, 1995: Seventy-three killed in two accidents in West Bengal and Orissa.

May 14, 1995: Fifty-two people killed as Madras-Kanyakumari Express collides with a goods train near Salem in Tamil Nadu.

May 3, 1994: Thirty-five people killed as Narayanadri Express rams into a tractor in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh.

Sep 21, 1993: Seventy-one killed as Kota-Bina passenger train collides with a goods train near Chhabra in Rajasthan.

July 16, 1993: Sixty killed in an accident in Darbhanga district of Bihar.

Sep 5, 1992: Forty-one killed in a train accident near Raigarh in Madhya Pradesh.

Oct 31, 1991: Thirty killed as Karnataka Express derails near Makaligurga in Karnataka.

Oct 10, 1990: Forty killed in a fire in a train near Cherpalli in Andhra Pradesh.

June 25, 1990: Sixty killed as a goods train rams into a passenger train at Mangra in Daltongunj in Bihar.

June 6, 1990: Thirty-five killed in a train accident at Gollaguda in Andhra Pradesh.

April 16, 1990: Seventy people burnt to death as a shuttle train catches fire near Patna.