Images from the crash site showed wrecked and open train compartments with blood-stained holes near Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha.
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Train cars overturned completely in the collision on Friday night, and rescuers searched for survivors trapped in the twisted wreckage, while dozens of bodies lay under white sheets next to the tracks.
As dawn arrived on Saturday, rescue workers were able to see the full extent of the carnage.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of Odisha Fire Services, said the death toll was 288.
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“Rescue work is still ongoing,” he told AFP from the scene of the accident, adding that there were “many serious injuries.”
Railway accidents are not uncommon in India, which has witnessed several such incidents in the past, but the magnitude of this catastrophe has caused an uproar.
A survivor told local television reporters that he was asleep when the accident happened and woke up trapped among a dozen passengers. He managed to crawl out of the train, with injuries to his neck and arm.
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Overcrowded hospitals
Given the high number of people affected, the injured were being transported both in ambulances and buses to any hospital that had available space.
“We have prepared all major public and private hospitals from the accident site to the state capital to treat the injured,” highlighted SK Panda, spokesperson for the Odisha state authorities.
He added that “75 ambulances” were sent to the scene and that “many buses” were also made available to transport injured passengers.
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At Bhadrak district hospital, ambulances carried bloodied and shaken survivors, who received care in crowded rooms.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed being “appalled” by the accident.
“In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones. May the injured recover quickly,” Modi said on Twitter.
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The president also stated that he had spoken to the Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, to “evaluate the situation”.
“All hands needed”
Vaishnaw assured that he was heading to the crash site and that rescue teams, including the National Disaster Response Force and the Air Force, had been mobilized.
“We will employ all necessary hands for the rescue operation,” Vaishnaw tweeted.
Despite this incident, railway safety had improved significantly in the country in recent years due to massive investments and technological upgrades.
The country's deadliest railway accident occurred on June 6, 1981, in the eastern state of Bihar, when seven carriages of a train fell from a bridge into a river, resulting in between 800 and 1.000 deaths.
More recently, on November 20, 2016, a train with 2.000 passengers derailed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh while most passengers were sleeping, causing 146 deaths and 180 injuries.
This century, India has had 13 railway accidents with more than 50 victims, three of them resulting from attacks.
