2010-09-21 07:03

Security personnel conduct rescue operations at the site of a train accident near Badarwas station, about 260 km (160 miles) north of Bhopal in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh September 20, 2010. [Agencies]

NEW DELHI - A freight train on the wrong track slammed into a stationary passenger locomotive at a railway station amid heavy rain early Monday in central India, killing at least 21 people and injuring 53, officials said.

The death toll could rise as the debris of two damaged coaches were being cleared, rail official R.S. Yadav said.

The crash happened at the Bhaderwah rail station, 235 miles (375 kilometers) south of the Indian capital, New Delhi.

The freight train was on a wrong track and hit the passenger train head-on, Yadav said.

At least 53 passengers were injured, 18 of them seriously, said Daulat Singh Meena, a railroad official.

The Press Trust of India news agency quoting unnamed officials as saying that the driver of the freight train overshot the red signal to stop, causing the accident. That report could not be immediately confirmed.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an inquiry into the collision.

Accidents are common on India's sprawling rail network.

In July, 63 people were killed after a train smashed into another locomotive at a rail station in West Bengal state.

A passenger train derailed and was hit by a cargo train in May, killing 145 people in West Bengal state. Authorities blamed sabotage by Maoist rebels for that crash.