According to West Central Railway PRO Piyush Mathur, seven coaches of Kamayani Express and three coaches and Engine of Janata Express derailed as base material on the tracks got washed away.
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Those derailed were Kamayani Express and the Janata Express.
Over 250 passengers have been rescued, a railway official said.
Several bogies of the two trains, as well as one of the locomotives of the train, reportedly fell off the bridge.
Kamayani Express plying from Mumbai to Varanasi derailed near Harda, about 160 kms from Bhopal. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said 27 people were killed when 21 coaches of the trains derailed shortly before midnight Tuesday on the Kali Machak river.
“Some people are still trapped in coaches that are partially submerged, we are trying to rescue them”, he said.
“Nearly 25 passengers suffered injuries”, the PRO said.
The accident relief train has reached the spot and several passengers have been brought to a nearby station.
At least 24 people are dead and over 300 have been injured after two trains derailed on tracks near the Machak river in Madhya Pradesh.
He added that efforts are being made “to pull back [the] trains”. “The situation is being monitored very closely”.
“Rescue operations are on and the toll could increase”, an official told Bureaucracy Today. He said, everything that is necessary and possible is being done and he is in constant touch with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Railway officials.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an inquiry into the twin derailment and announced compensation to the families of the victims.
The head of the railway board, A.K. Mittal, however told reporters a flash flood struck the area just minutes before the trains came through, disturbing the tracks.
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Kumar said rescue operations were nearing a close Wednesday morning, and that railway workers would soon start repairing the tracks so train traffic can resume.
