This screen grab made from AFPTV video footage taken on June 3, 2023 shows people gathering at the accident site of a three-train collision near Balasore, India. Photo: JAYANTA SHAW / AFP
At least 261 people have been killed and 650 are injured in a crash involving three trains in India's eastern Odisha state, officials say.
One passenger train derailed and its coaches fell on to the adjacent track where they were struck by an incoming train on Friday evening. A freight train was stationary.
The rescue operation at the crash site has ended, officials said.
The cause of India's worst train crash this century is not yet clear.
Officials said several carriages from the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed at about 7pm local time in Balasore district, hit a stationary goods train and several of its coaches ended up on the opposite track.
Another train - the Howrah Superfast Express travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah - then hit the overturned carriages.
"The force with which the trains collided has resulted in several coaches being crushed and mangled," Atul Karwal, chief of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) told news agency ANI.
It was the third deadliest crash in the history of Indian railways, he said.
More than 200 ambulances and hundreds of doctors, nurses and rescue personnel were sent to the scene, the state's chief secretary Pradeep Jena said.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of Odisha Fire Services, had earlier said 288 had died.
The rescue operation recovering people from the wreckage has finished and work to restore the site of the crash begun, India's South Eastern Railway company said on Saturday.
New Zealand Indian community reacts
A community leader says the Indian community in New Zealand is distressed about the train collision.
President of the New Zealand Indian Central Association Narendra Bhana said he has been getting concerned calls from the community.
"The community in New Zealand is distressed by the incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the injured and bereaved families during a difficult time."
Bhana said a prayer gathering may happen this weekend to pay tribute to victims of the incident.
An Auckland community newspaper editor said their paper is ready to aid any families who may be affected by the train collision.
Venkat Raman, editor of the Indian Newslink, said they have checked in on some families today.
"We're trying to see whether any families in New Zealand are affected.
"There are two trains which could be carrying passengers known to people or related to people of the Indian community in New Zealand but it's still not known, but we are standing by to comfort families if there are any in distress."
He said they have mainly been calling members of the Odisha community, which has about 200 families and are mostly living in Auckland.
People gather at the accident site of a three-train collision near Balasore, India, about 200 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, on June 3, 2023. Photo: DIBYANGSHU SARKAR / AFP
Third deadliest crash in the history of Indian railways
More than 200 ambulances and hundreds of doctors, nurses and rescue personnel were sent to the scene in Balasore district, the state's chief secretary Pradeep Jena said.
Drone footage shot at the accident site showed several of the coaches had detached from the train and tipped on the side - a few others are completely overturned.
"The force with which the trains collided has resulted in several coaches being crushed and mangled. We are trying to cut through the wreckage to reach the passengers. We also have to be careful to not hurt those alive," Atul Karwal, chief of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) told news agency ANI.
He said this was "the third deadliest crash in the history of Indian railways".
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is at the site of the accident and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit the injured in the hospital later on Saturday.
One male survivor said that "10 to 15 people fell on me when the accident happened and everything went haywire. I was at the bottom of the pile.
"I got hurt in my hand and also the back of my neck. When I came out of the train bogie, I saw someone had lost their hand, someone had lost their leg, while someone's face was distorted," the survivor told India's ANI news agency.
A day of mourning has been announced in the state.
Officials said several carriages from the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed at about 7pm local tmie hit a stationary goods train and several of its coaches ended up on the opposite track.
Another train - the Howrah Superfast Express travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah - then hit the overturned carriages.
Residents of the neighbouring villages were among the first to reach the site of the accident and start the rescue operation.
Some surviving passengers were seen rushing in to help rescue those trapped in the wreckage.
Local bus companies were also helping to transport wounded passengers.
India's worst train disaster was in 1981, when an overcrowded passenger train was blown off the tracks and into a river during a cyclone in Bihar state, killing at least 800 people.
- BBC
