At least 120 reported dead in India train crash

GAISAL, India (CNN) -- Two trains loaded with passengers collided in a horrifying crash at a remote railroad station, killing at least 120 people early Monday, officials told CNN.

Rescue workers were trying to extricate other victims of the crash.

More than 100 were reported injured, and that number was expected to rise. The injured were taken to three area hospitals for treatment. Doctors from throughout the region converged on the crash site.

Investigators and top officials, including the Indian rail minister, also rushed to the scene. Rain and early morning darkness initially hampered rescue efforts. Officials said determining the number of people killed and injured has been difficult. Officials at the crash scene estimated the number of bodies recovered at 200, while authorities in New Delhi said the figure was about 120. The figures could not be independently confirmed.

Officials said the collision occurred with such force that they initially thought a bomb had exploded. However, they later said it was an accident.

While the cause of the crash was not not yet known, the BBC reported that officials said a signal failure may have put both trains on the same track.

The rail station is in West Bengal state, nearly 900 kilometers (550 miles) east of New Delhi.

The powerful collision between the Brahmputra Mail train from Gauhati and the Awadh-Assam Express from New Delhi occurred in Gaisan Station, a small town rail stop in West Bengal state, 310 miles west of Gauhati, at 1:30 a.m. local time Monday (4 p.m. EDT Sunday).

The Brahmaputra Mail train was passing by the Gaisan platform and the other train was stationary when the crash took place, officials said.

Railway police sources said the crash was so powerful that the engine of the Abodh-Assam Express was blasted into the air, and landed across the next track.

Seven coaches of the first train and five of the second were ripped apart, said Robin Kalita, a Northeast Frontier Railway spokesman based in Gauhati.

The worst previous train wreck in India took place near New Delhi in 1995, killing 358 people. Train accidents are common in India -- which has the world's biggest rail network.

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