As the death toll in the Odisha train accident involving two express trains — Bengaluru-Howrah Express and Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express — and a goods train in Balasore has risen to 238, we look back at the most tragic train accidents that has jolted the nation in the past.
June, 1981 : Over 300 people were killed in the Bihar train derailment after a train fell into the river Bagmati while crossing a bridge on June 6, 1981.
August 1995 : The Firozabad rail disaster occurred when the Purushottam Express collided with the stationary Kalindi Express near Firozabad, killing 400 on August 20, 1995.
August 1999 : Another major accident the Gaisal train disaster occurred when the Brahmaputra Mail collided into the stationary Avadh Assam Express at Gaisal station in North Frontier Railway’s Katihar division, killing at least 285 and injuring more than 300 on August 2, 1999.
November 1998 : The Khanna rail disaster occurred on November 26, 1998 when the Jammu Tawi-Sealdah Express collided with three derailed coaches of the Frontier Golden Temple Mail at Khanna, killing over 212 people.
September 2002 : The Rafiganj train wreck occurred when the Howrah Rajdhani Express derailed on a bridge between Gaya and Dehri-on-Sone stations, with two coaches falling into a river, killing over 140 on September 9, 2002.
May 2010 : The Jnaneswari Express train derailment occurred on May 28, 2010 when the Howrah-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Jnaneswari Super Deluxe Express was derailed by an explosion then struck by an oncoming freight train between Khemashuli and Sardiha stations, killing at least 140.
November 2016 : The Pukhrayan train derailment occurred when the Indore-Rajendra Nagar Express derailed 14 coaches at Pukhrayan, approximately 60 km from Kanpur, killing 152 and injuring 260 on November 20, 2016.
October 2005 : The Valigonda train wreck occurred when the Delta Fast Passenger train derailed where a small rail bridge had been swept away by a flash flood, near the town of Valigonda, Andhra Pradesh, killing at least 114 and injuring over 200 on October 29, 2005.