India's most tragic train mishaps from 1964 to 2023

Rescue operation being conducted after four coaches of the Coromandel Express derailed after a head-on collision with a goods train in Balasore district on Friday. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Official sources revealed that the train crash in Odisha on Friday, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train, is one of the deadliest such accidents since independence. Over 200 people were killed and more than 900 injured in this horrific train accident. Here is a look at other such deadliest train crashes.

23 December, 1964- The Pamban-Dhanushkodi passenger train was washed away by the Rameswaram cyclone, killing over 126 passengers on board.

6 June, 1981- India recorded its worst train accident which occurred in Bihar. A train fell into the river Bagmati while crossing a bridge, killing more than 750 people.

8 July, 1988- An express train leaves the rails and plunges into a monsoon-swollen lake near Quillon in Kerala, killing at least 106 people.

A train passing through Peruman Bridge; remains of the Peruman railway accident that occurred on 8 July, 1988 lying below the bridge. Photo: Manorama

20 August, 1995- The Purushottam Express collided with the stationary Kalindi Express near Firozabad. The official death toll was around 305.

26 November, 1998- The Jammu TawiSealdah Express collided with three derailed coaches of the Frontier Golden Temple Mail in Khanna in Punjab, killing 212 people.

2 August, 1999- The Gaisal train disaster occurred when the Brahmaputra Mail crashed into the stationary Avadh Assam Express at Gaisal station in North Frontier Railway's Katihar division, killing more than 285 people and injuring over 300. Many of the victims were Army, BSF or CRPF personnel.

9 September, 2002- The Rafiganj train wreck occurred when the Howrah Rajdhani Express derailed over a bridge on the Dhave river in Rafiganj, killing more than 140 people. Terrorist sabotage was blamed for the incident.

October 2005- Several coaches of a passenger train derail in southern Andhra Pradesh state, near Velugonda. At least 77 people are killed.

28 May, 2010- The Jnaneswari Express train derailment - The Mumbai-bound train had derailed near Jhargram and was then hit by an oncoming goods train, leading to the death of 148 passengers.

The Jnaneswari Express train derailment on 28 May, 2010. Photo: PTI from Manorama Archive

July 2011- Around 70 people are killed and over 300 injured when a mail train derails in Fatehpur.

A view of the wreckage of the Kalka Mail passenger train which derailed near the town of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh on July 10, 2011. Photo: AP/Rajesh Kumar Singh from Manorama Archive

20 November, 2016- The Pukhrayan train derailment occurred when 14 coaches of the IndoreRajendra Nagar Express derailed at Pukhrayan, approximately 60 km from Kanpur, killing 152 people and injuring 26.

National disaster response force searching victims after 14 coaches of an overnight passenger train rolled off the track near Pukhrayan village Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh on 20 November, 2016. Photo: AP/Rajesh Kumar Singh from Manorama Archive

22 January, 2017- At least 41 people are killed after several coaches of a passenger train go off the rails in southern Andhra Pradesh state.

Rescue workers search for survivors after a passenger train derailed near Kuneru village in Vizianagaram district, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India, January 22, 2017. Photo: REUTERS from Manorama Archive

19 October, 2018- A commuter train runs through a crowd gathered on the tracks for a festival in northern India's Amritsar city, killing at least 59 people and injuring 57.

A speeding train ran over hundreds of people who were out to watch Ravana’s effigy being set ablaze amid Dussehra celebrations at the Joda Fatak area in Punjab. Photo: PTI/ Kamal Kishore from Manorama Archive

2 June, 2023- At least 233 people were killed and more than 900 injured in a horrific train crash in Odisha involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train. Officials said several coaches of the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah train travelling to Howrah derailed at Bahanaga Baazar in Balasore district and fell on adjacent tracks.

A drone view shows derailed coaches after two passenger trains collided in Balasore district in the eastern state of Odisha, India, June 3, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Stringer

(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.