India train crash toll rises to 15
NEW DELHI, India -- The casualty toll in the collision between a freight train and a passenger train in the western Indian state of Gujarat has risen to 15 dead and 20 seriously injured, a railway official said.
At least 51 other people were less seriously hurt, officials said Friday.
Service was restored in both directions at 8:30 p.m. (1600 GMT), said Shailendra Kumar, a government railway spokesman.
Why the passenger train ran into the freight train, which was stopped, was the subject of scrutiny. "It's either human error or a technical error," Kumar said.
There was no evidence of sabotage in the wreck, which occurred at 3:20 a.m. about 30 km (20 miles) north of Baroda, he added.
The Sabarmati Express was traveling from Varanasi in central India to Ahmedadad in western India when the crash occurred near Samlaya, a village near the city of Vadodara.
At least four cars of the passenger train jumped the tracks after the smash.
India, which has the world's second largest rail network, has a poor safety where accidents are not uncommon.
