Death toll rises to 23 in Uttar Pradesh, India. About 50 people were injured in the accident; NDTV informed the media in a report. Officials cite the same number of deaths as The Washington Post.

The train was in an accident on the way from Puri, Odisha to Haridwar, Uttarakhand. The train ‘Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express’ derailed at Muzaffarnagar area of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday evening at 5:45 pm.

Anil Saxena, the Railway spokesperson, initially said that at least five compartments were derailed in that accident. However, 14 compartments were derailed, informed later.

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu ordered to investigate the cause of the accident. In a post on Twitter, he said that strict action would be taken against the concerned if any errors were found.

Additional Superintendent of Police of the Muzaffarnagar area of Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Kumar Sahdev told Reuters that some of the compartments were derailed from the train.

On television footage, the derailed compartments were found to be lying on one another and a large number of people gathered there.

‘The maximum-force has been recruited for the rescue operation’, Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena added. However, he cannot confirm the number of casualties.

Source: NDTV, the Washington Post, Reuters