India's Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, resigned yesterday following one of the country's worst train disasters, with predictions that the death toll would pass 400.
The disaster happened on Monday when two trains - the Awadh-Assam Express, bound for Guwahati in the north-eastern state of Assam, collided with the Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Mail at the West Bengal town of Gaisal. Each train was carrying an estimated 1,000 passengers.
The confirmed number of dead was yesterday put at 258 by officials at the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) headquarters in Guwahati.
They said 300 were seriously injured and that the remaining wagons could contain a further 200 bodies. Railway ministry officials have suggested that signals failure or human error were the likely causes of the collision.
"I have sent my resignation to the prime minister [Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee] owing moral responsibility," Mr Nitish Kumar said yesterday. He added that the disaster resulted from "criminal negligence" by railway staff.
Officials at the crash site said both trains were travelling at about 80-90 k.p.h. when they collided.
Mr V.K. Agarwal, the Railway Board chairman, said the Awadh Assam train had raced along the wrong track for between seven and 14 km before hitting the Brahmaputra Mail.
"Under the rules he [the driver] should have stopped the train, got down and alerted the train coming from the other side with his flasher," Mr Agarwal said.
Workers at the crash site yesterday continued to pull bodies from the wreckage but were hampered by a mob of onlookers, which police said had totalled more than 100,000 people since the accident happened. Grappling with the twisted metal of the coaches, hundreds of rescue workers warded off the stench of decomposing bodies with white handkerchiefs tied around their heads. As many as 27 bodies were laid out by the tracks.
In Guwahati hospital, Mr Utpal Hazarika (35), a businessman, described a scene of blind panic and chaos.
"There was what sounded like a huge explosion, then a tremendous screeching of metal with people being flung all over the carriage," said Mr Hazarika, who has neck and back injuries.
Dr Miran Bannerjee, director of the North Bengal Medical College in Siliguri, 80 km from the crash site, said his staff had dealt with 150 injured.
"Many of them are in a very serious condition, with multiple fractures and third-degree burns, and we've had to call in private doctors to help us cope," he said.
There were emotional scenes at Guwahati station as a special train arrived carrying survivors. Hundreds of anxious people ran from carriage to carriage searching for family members.
"I've been here since Monday morning," said Mr Prahlad Singh, a grocery shop owner in Guwahati, as he tearfully hugged his wife and daughter. "They're shaken and have some nasty bruises but at least they're safe," he said.
The Chief Commissioner of Railway safety is due to arrive in Gaisal tomorrow to open an official investigation.
At least 18 people were killed and 30 injured on Monday when a bus carrying pilgrims fell into a gorge in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the Press Trust of India said yesterday.