PATNA, India — An express train on its way from Calcutta to New Delhi jumped the tracks, sending one of the cars plunging 300 feet into a river, and leaving two others dangling from a bridge, officials said Tuesday. At least 50 people died and nearly 180 others were injured, according to a wire service.
Authorities said they suspected sabotage, as the tracks appeared to have been tampered with. The crash occurred in an area of eastern India where communist rebels are active.
“We have recovered 50 dead bodies. The rescue operation is almost complete,” Northern Railways spokesman Devendra Sandhu told The Associated Press.
Earlier, railroad officials had said they feared at least 100 dead.
Bandaru Dattatreya, deputy minister for railroads, said 13 cars of the Rajdhani Express went off the tracks, and one plunged into the Dhave River, as the train was crossing a bridge near the town of Rafiganj, about 420 miles southeast of New Delhi.
The train was carrying about 540 passengers and more than 80 railroad workers, said Subhash Ranajan Thakur, deputy chief of Eastern Railways.
Two other cars were still dangling from the bridge, a state telecommunications officer told The Associated Press.
Many passengers were still trapped in the car in the river, said the officer, R.K. Singh, reached at the scene by satellite phone. The car was not fully under water.
Aziz Mirza, an injured passenger, told the independent news network Aaj Tak that a passenger who had exchanged seats with him died.
“I was in the front row,” he said. “I was lucky to escape, but others in the coach got trapped.”
An official at the Eastern Railways headquarters in Calcutta said about 180 injured people had been taken to hospitals.
Army soldiers joined police and railroad officials in the rescue operation.
“Our preliminary reports say that this is sabotage,” Dattatreya said, adding that some of the iron plates used to join the train tracks were found removed at the scene.
The train derailed Monday at about 10:30 p.m. local time. It had been traveling at about 80 mph, railroad officials said.
There are several rebel groups active in eastern India, including the People’s War Group.
The insurgents claim to be inspired by the ideology of Chinese revolutionary leader, Mao Zedong. They mostly target rich landowners, accusing them of exploiting landless farm workers, but also target police and government officials for allegedly colluding with landowners to deny rights to agricultural workers.
One of the group’s senior leaders was recently arrested.