Dozens killed in train crash in eastern India

A train crash in eastern India has killed at least 50 people, officials say. They say a passenger train ploughed into another that was waiting at a station in the town of Sainthia, West Bengal state, early on Monday.

According to BBC News more than 100 people were injured in the accident.

TV footage showed local residents climbing through the mangled trains as they searched for survivors. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

A major rescue operation is now under way, with emergency workers are now trying to free passengers still trapped in the wreckage with gas cutters and other tools.

"The people who have lost their lives were travelling in unreserved coaches," local rail traffic manager Sunil Banerjee told the AFP news agency.

"We do not have their names and any vital information about them to inform their relatives," he said.

Officials believe that the trains were packed with commuters heading back to work after spending a weekend with their families.

The impact of the collision was so strong that the roof one of the coaches hit a footbridge above the tracks.

Accidents are common on the state-owned Indian railways, which operates an immense network connecting every corner of the vast country.

It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day.