Andhra train accident | Rescue work over, teams working on track restoration: officials

Rescue operations were completed on Monday morning after they continued overnight in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram following a collision of two trains on Sunday evening.

Teams worked their way through mass of mangled and overturned coaches to rescue the injured.

Visuals from the accident site show coaches on top of each other after a moving train rammed into a stationary one.

Biswajit Sahu, CPRO, East Coast Railway, said that officials are now working on track restotation.

'So far, 11 people have died and 50 others are injured. We are presently focusing on the track restoration work. The rescue operation is over now...We have arranged buses and trains for the stranded passengers,' Biswajit Sahu, CPRO, East Coast Railway, said.

Emergency workers and local volunteers were on Sunday night searching the wreckage to rescue passengers trapped in the mangled remains of coaches after a train overshot the signal and rammed into another train in Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh on the Howrah-Chennai line.

At least 11 persons died and around 50 injured were shifted to hospitals after the accident involving 08532 Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger train and 08504 Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger Special occurred at around 7 pm.

Two coaches of the Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger train from the rear and the loco of Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger which overshot the signal got derailed, railway officials said, adding that human error is suspected to have caused the accident.

Images from the site showed several crushed and overturned coaches and emergency workers struggling to rescue the injured in the dark. According to local officials, the electric lines were affected due to the crash.

Rescue and medical teams were rushed to the site from surrounding areas after the incident, officials said.

(with PTI inputs)