India train crash toll rises

The isolated location and monsoon rains have hindered the rescue

The number of people killed after a passenger train derailed in western India on Sunday night has now risen to at least 51, officials say.

Rescue workers including troops and police have been working with cutting gear to gain access to the wrecked carriages, but were unlikely to recover any more bodies, a railway spokeswoman said.

Twenty-five people were injured in the crash, when four carriages of the train were forced off the rails after it hit rocks and debris from a landslide caused by heavy monsoon rains.

One carriage slammed into a coach in front, trapping it against the mountainside.

The rescue effort has been hampered by continuing rains and the isolated location of the derailment, 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of India's commercial capital, Bombay (Mumbai).

Railway spokeswoman Vaishali Patange said 31 of the victims were men, 10 were women and nine were children. One body had yet to be identified.

Blocked route

Another spokesman, Nandu Telang, said the dead and injured had been moved to local hospitals.

He said three of the derailed carriages had unreserved seats so rescue workers were having difficulty identifying the victims.

The derailment appears to have been caused by a landslide following several days of heavy rain in the region.

"It appears that the landslide and approaching train were concurrent, or the train must have hit the boulders just five or 10 minutes after the landslide," said Mr Telang.

He also said the driver had been told it was safe to proceed.

The train was travelling from the neighbouring state of Karnataka to Bombay when it derailed near the town of Rajapur at around 2230 local time (1700 GMT) on Sunday.

Trains due to travel the route were cancelled as rescue teams and a relief train worked on freeing passengers from the overturned carriages.

Mr Telang said it would take 24 hours to get the route functioning again.