Indian express train goes off track killing four

Indian media reported Thursday at least four people lost their lives and scores of others were injured after 21 coaches of an express went off track in Bihar, with authorities conducting a rescue mission to assist the victims.

The train from Anand Vihar Terminal railway station in Delhi came off the rails late Wednesday as it raced to the Kamakhya Junction in Assam, the Times of India reported.

"Four casualties have been confirmed and a rescue operation is underway. Twenty-one coaches have derailed," Tarun Prakash, general manager of the East Central Railway, was quoted by the TOI as saying.

Another news agency ANI mentioned the death toll at four.

Media reports further stated that some wounded were rushed to hospital, however, the number of injured was unclear.

"Deepest condolences for the irreparable loss," wrote railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on X, formerly Twitter, adding that "an evacuation and rescue operation was complete and that passengers were being moved to a different train for their onward journey."

The minister did not confirm the death toll as a result of the derailing of the train.

India has one of the world's largest rail networks and has seen several disasters over the years, the worst in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar state and plunged into a river below, killing 800 people.

In June, a triple-train collision killed nearly 300 people in Odisha state.

In August at least nine people were killed when a coach parked in southern India caught fire as a passenger tried to make tea.