Passenger train derails in India, killing 2 passengers and injuring 20 others

NEW DELHI — A passenger train derailed Tuesday in eastern India, killing at least two passengers and injuring 20 others, a railroad official said.

Dozens of rescuers pulled the injured passengers from the derailed coaches and moved them to hospitals and government health centers for treatment, railway spokesperson Om Prakash Charan said. The cause of the accident is being investigated, he said.

The train was on its way to Mumbai when it derailed near the town of Barabamboo in Jharkhand state, causing 18 coaches to derail, Charan said.

Earlier this month a passenger train derailed in northern India, killing at least two passengers. Last year, a train crash in eastern India killed over 280 people in one of the country’s deadliest accidents in decades.

More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India daily, traveling on 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track. Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents happen annually, most blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.