Death toll rises to 21 in Iran train derailment

The number of dead in the derailment this Wednesday of a train in the east of Iran increased to 21 and the number of injured stood at 86, while the rescue operations came to an end.

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The head of the Yazd province Emergency Services Organization, Ahmad Dehqan, told local media that the death toll had risen to 21 in the last few hours.

For his part, a spokesman for the emergency services, Moytaba Khaledí, told state television that at least 86 people have been injured in total, and that several of them are in critical condition.

The accident occurred around 5:30 a.m. local time (01:30 GMT) when several rail cars traveling between the cities of Mashhad and Yazd derailed, at the height of the city of Taban.

The country’s Railway Department said in a statement that the passenger train collided with an excavator, causing it to derail, according to the IRNA news agency.

After the railway accident, in which between 350 and 420 passengers were traveling, various authorities rushed to offer their condolences and assured that an investigation would be carried out.

Thus, the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisí, expressed his condolences and ordered an investigation to clarify the causes of the accident.

For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Ahmad Vahidí, and the Minister of Roads, Rostam Qasemí, traveled to the accident site to supervise the rescue operations, which have already come to an end.

The country’s worst rail accident occurred in 2004 when 320 people died in a train derailment.

In 2019 at least four people were killed and 35 others were injured in another train derailment in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan in southeastern Iran.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.