India Train Accidents: At Least 14 People Killed In Separate Train Collisions In Haryana, Jharkhand States

Two separate train accidents in India killed at least 14 people, authorities said Tuesday. The incidents occurred in the northern Haryana state and the eastern state of Jharkhand.

A speeding train hit a vehicle at an unmanned crossing in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district, 43 miles north of capital Ranchi, Monday night. A family of 13 traveling in the vehicle was killed in the accident. Local police said the car’s tire was trapped in the railway tracks resulting in the accident, according to Indo-Asian News Service agency. Five children were reportedly among the deceased.

In the other incident, two trains rammed in Haryana’s Palwal district, 914 miles south of capital Chandigarh on Tuesday. One of the train’s motorman was killed while the assistant motorman and the train’s guard were injured in the accident, said Neeraj Sharma, a spokesman for Northern Railway, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

“There was fog in the morning and the [driver] probably could not see the signal and hit the train from behind,” Sharma reportedly said.

About 23 million rail passengers travel daily in India, which has one of the world's largest railroad networks. Unmanned railway crossings in the country, which consist of 36 percent of the total crossings, account for 59 percent of deaths on railway tracks, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.