Rail crash kills 21 in India

The death toll could rise as the debris of two damaged coaches was still being cleared at the Bhaderwah rail station, 230 miles south of the Indian capital, New Delhi, yesterday.

The freight train was on a wrong track and hit the passenger train head-on, a railway spokesman said. At least 53 passengers were injured, 18 seriously.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an inquiry into the collision.

Accidents are common on India's sprawling rail network, one of the world's largest but lacking in modern signalling and communication systems. Most crashes are blamed on poor maintenance and human error. In July, 63 people died after a train smashed into another at a station in West Bengal state. A passenger train derailed and was hit by a cargo train in May, killing 145 people in the same state.