At least 11 people died after a passenger train rear-ended a cargo train near Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Rescuers used iron cutters to free a carriage that had ended atop a cargo wagon and found three additional bodies. The passenger train driver was among the dead; about 20 people were injured and the co-driver is critically ill. Indian Railways has opened an inquiry and announced financial assistance for victims' families.
At least 11 dead after passenger train rear-ends cargo train near Bilaspur, India
At least 11 people died after a passenger train rear-ended a cargo train near Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Rescuers used iron cutters to free a carriage that had ended atop a cargo wagon and found three additional bodies. The passenger train driver was among the dead; about 20 people were injured and the co-driver is critically ill. Indian Railways has opened an inquiry and announced financial assistance for victims' families.
12:16, 05.11.2025Society
At least 11 killed in rear-end collision near Bilaspur
A local passenger train crashed into the rear of a cargo train on Tuesday afternoon near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, killing at least 11 people, officials said. The collision occurred about 115 km (70 miles) northeast of Raipur, the state capital.
Senior government official Sanjay Agarwal, speaking to The Associated Press, said one passenger carriage rode up onto a cargo wagon after the impact. Rescue teams worked for hours to lower the crushed carriage to the ground and used iron cutters to open it; during that operation they discovered three additional bodies inside.
Rescue and recovery operations concluded early on Wednesday, and regular train movement through the accident site has since resumed, the official said.
The driver of the passenger train was among those killed. His female co-driver was critically injured and taken to a private hospital for treatment. About 20 other passengers sustained injuries and are receiving care at local hospitals.
Indian Railways, the operator, said it has launched an inquiry into the cause of the collision and announced financial assistance for the families of those killed and for the injured. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai offered condolences to the bereaved families.
Context
Train collisions remain a recurring safety concern in India. More than 12 million passengers travel daily on roughly 14,000 trains across about 64,000 km (40,000 miles) of track, and despite modernization efforts hundreds of accidents — some fatal — still occur each year, frequently attributed to human error or outdated signalling systems. In 2023 a crash in Odisha killed at least 288 people, one of the country's deadliest rail disasters. Other recent transport tragedies include a bus fire in Andhra Pradesh last month that killed at least 25 people after a collision with a motorcycle.