A tragic train collision occurred in central India on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of at least seven individuals and leaving several others injured, according to a senior government official. The accident took place near Bilaspur, approximately 116 kilometers from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh state. Local media broadcasted distressing visuals of the collision, with rescue teams urgently combing through the wreckage for survivors. Senior official Sanjay Agarwal reported that a local passenger train rear-ended a goods train, causing one passenger coach to overturn onto a goods wagon. Rescue operations are underway to extricate at least two passengers believed to be trapped inside the mangled wreckage. “We remain hopeful for their survival, but confirmation can only come once they are safely removed,” Agarwal stated. Around a dozen injured individuals have been transported to nearby hospitals, with one in critical condition. Indian Railways has mobilized all available resources for the rescue mission and initiated an investigation to determine the cause of the accident. Chhattisgarh’s highest-elected official, Vishnu Deo Sai, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. Train collisions are a recurring issue in India, where the extensive rail network grapples with aging infrastructure and human error. With over 12 million passengers daily across 64,000 kilometers of track, rail safety remains a pressing concern. Despite governmental efforts to enhance safety measures, hundreds of accidents, some fatal, occur annually, often attributed to outdated signaling systems or human oversight. This incident follows a devastating crash in eastern India in 2023, which claimed over 280 lives, marking one of the country’s deadliest rail disasters.