At least 17 killed in Indian train crash
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-21 22:10

SAMLAYA, India - A passenger train slammed into a stationary goods train in western India on Thursday, killing at least 17 people, police and railway officials said.

Irate relatives of those killed in the crash stoned a vehicle carrying federal Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav when he visited the site of the crash, in which 80 people were injured.

"I heard people shouting and I rushed out, but my uncle was sleeping on a top berth. I couldn't get him out," said survivor Jayanti Devi Parmar, a 32-year-old woman who escaped with minor injuries.

The Sabarmati Express train was traveling from the holy city of Varanasi to Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city. It was packed with young people on their way to sit for tests for coveted railways jobs, television reports said.

A senior Railway official said early reports suggested the collision about 150 km (90 miles) south of Ahmedabad was the result of human error.

"It looks like a human error as the guard on duty did not give a proper signal. However, an inquiry into this whole incident will be conducted soon," M.Z. Ansari, general manager of western zone of the Indian Railways, told Reuters.

Passengers were trapped in four cars that left the tracks in the collision, prompting early estimates that the death toll could climb to dozens before it was later revised to 17.

About 300 accidents occur each year on India's railways, which operate almost 12,000 trains carrying more than 13 million people every day.

Experts say the rail system, saddled with huge losses because of rock-bottom fares and a massive workforce, has little money to invest in improving safety and infrastructure.

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