Indian train crash kills 26, rescue operation ends
By Sharat Pradhan LUCKNOW India (Reuters) - A train crash in northern India killed 26 people, police said on Tuesday after a rescue operation to pull survivors and corpses from the mangled coaches concluded. The accident occurred on Monday morning when a passenger train collided with a stationary goods train near Churaib station in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. A police spokesman in Lucknow, the state capital, revised the death toll down to 26 on Tuesday after saying on Monday that 40 people had been killed. Almost 90 of those injured were still in hospital. Monday's crash was the latest to highlight India's ailing infrastructure, a problem that Narendra Modi, who was sworn in as India's new prime minister on Monday night, has vowed to make a top priority. "My condolences to families of those who lost their lives in the Gorakhdham Express tragedy. Prayers with the injured," Modi tweeted on Monday. The Gorakhdham Express is the name of the passenger train. Modi has promised to build new inter-state highways and a network of bullet trains, as well as addressing severe electricity shortages. At least 19 people were killed and 130 injured when a train derailed in western India earlier this month. (Writing by Shyamantha Asokan; Editing by Alison Williams)
