LUCKNOW: At least 96 passengers, most of whom were sleeping, were killed when an express train derailed in northern India early Sunday, police said.
Rescue workers were searching for survivors believed still trapped inside the badly mangled coaches of the Patna-Indore express after the crash near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh state.
Police initially put the death toll at 63 but revised the figure later.
"The death toll has unfortunately increased and it is 96 now," Daljit Singh Chawdhary, the additional police director-general, told reporters, adding 150 were injured.
All local hospitals have been placed on alert and more than 30 ambulances have been deployed.
TV footage showed rescue workers using gas cutters and other equipment to slice through severely mangled coaches strewn with suitcases and other luggage.
Witnesses spoke of being woken by a huge bang and being thrown around.
"We woke up to a great thud this morning. It was pitch dark and the noise was deafening," a passenger told reporters as he waited with his family at the scene.
"I am lucky to be alive and safe. But it was a near-death experience for us."
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