3 killed, 4 injured in train accident in India

At least three people were killed and four others suffered burn injuries Tuesday after a passenger train collided head-on with a track-maintenance engine, derailed and caught fire in India's eastern state of Odisha, officials said.

The accident took place at Gadabaguda village in Rayagada district, about 402 km west of Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha.

Railway workers, policemen and onlookers surround the destroyed coaches after two trains collided at Janauli in the northern state of Haryana, India, on December 8, 2015. [File Photo: IC]

"This evening, Howrah-Jagdalpur Samaleshwari Express train caught fire after colliding head-on with a track-maintenance engine. The engine and at least two coaches of the express train derailed due to the collision," an official told Xinhua. "We are being told three railway employees were killed and four passengers suffered burns in the mishap."

According to officials, the injured were immediately moved to hospital and a fire brigade rushed to the spot to douse the flames.

Following the mishap, railway officials suspended the traffic on the line.

Video footage captured on the spot showed flames leaping out and thick smoke billowing from the train coaches.