AT least eight people were killed and around 20 injured yesterday evening after two trains collided in southeast India, local media reported, citing officials.

The crash caused a derailment between the towns of Alamanda and Kantakapalle in Andhra Pradesh state, the Press Trust of India reported.

The collision occurred after one of the passenger trains overshot a signal, according to officials cited by PTI.

Eight people died, according to a police official, while a senior railway official confirmed that 18-20 were injured, the publication said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X that he had spoken with the country’s railway ministry and that he “extends condolences to the bereaved families and prays that the injured recover soon.”

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 an estimated 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. – AFP, October 30, 2023.