Rescue workers and local people have rushed to the scene of the accident.
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In this image made from video, people gather by the twisted track…
However, an Indian Railways official refuted earlier reports that said that the derailed trains fell into a river, NDTV, a local news network reported.
“Seven bogies of Kamayani Express and engine plus three coaches of Janata Express were derailed between Khirkiya and Bhirangi stations near Harda“, Mathur said. By Wednesday morning, the unaffected coaches had been moved from the tracks and rescue operations were nearing a close, according to Kumar.
Mr Saksena said at least two coaches had been partially submerged in the river, though most passengers had been pulled to safety.
“Some bogies have fallen into the Machak river”, Harda Collector Rajnish Shrivastava said.
One of the trains was on its way from Varanasi to Mumbai, while the other was travelling in the opposite direction.
In the aftermath of the twin train derailment near Harda in Madhya Pradesh, the Central Railways have cancelled 10 down trains for today and tomorrow that originate from its zone.
By late evening the bodies of those killed, covered in white shrouds, had begun to arrive at the Harda railway station where grieving relatives waited.
An express train ploughed into a stationary freight train last May in northern Uttar Pradesh state, killing 26 and injuring 44 others.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have condoled the loss of lives due to the derailments of the two trains. The water degree of the river was very excessive resulting from heavy rain during the last two weeks, the report stated.
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India s railway network, one of the world s largest, is still the main form of long-distance travel in the vast country, but it is poorly funded and deadly accidents are frequent.
