Worst rail disasters of the last decade

Rescue workers gather near damaged carriages at the accident site of a three-train collision near Balasore, about 200 km (125 miles) from the state capital Bhubaneswar in the eastern state of Odisha, on June 2023. At least 288 people were killed and more than 850 injured in a horrific three-train collision in India, officials said on June 3, the country's deadliest rail accident in more than 20 years.AFP

With hundreds killed and more injured in a three-train collision in India, AFP looks back on some of the worst rail disasters of the last 10 years:

Greek collision

On 28 February 2023, a head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger train on the route between Athens and Thessaloniki claimed 57 lives, in the country's worst rail accident.

Stowaways derailed

On 10 March 2022, a freight train loaded with stowaways derailed in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Lualaba province, killing at least 75 people and injuring 125 others. A month later, at least eight people died when a goods train derailed in the same area.

Pakistan farmlands

On 7 June 2021, at least 63 people died when a train hurtling through farmland derailed and collided with another passenger service in Pakistan's southern Sindh province.

Taiwan tragedy

On 2 April 2021, at least 49 people were killed and 200 injured when a passenger train collided with a truck that slid down an embankment near the city of Hualien -- the island's worst rail disaster in decades.

Pakistan pilgrims

At least 74 people died and more than 40 were injured on 31 October 2019, when a fire broke out on an overcrowded passenger train carrying pilgrims to a religious gathering near Lahore.

Crowds on tracks

A speeding train ran over revellers watching fireworks during a Hindu festival in northern India on 19 October 2018, killing at least 60 people.

Indian express disaster

At least 146 people died when an Indore-Patna Express train with around 2,000 people on board derailed in Uttar Pradesh on 20 November 2016, sending carriages crashing into each other.             

Speeding Cameroon train

A train travelling from the capital Yaounde to the economic hub of Douala derailed on 21 October 2016, killing at least 79 people and injuring around 550 others. It was travelling "abnormally" fast before the crash, the investigation into the crash concluded.

Congo accident

A goods train carrying hundreds of illegal passengers flew off the rails in a swampy and inaccessible part of the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 22 April 2014, killing at least 136 people. Many had to be buried in mass graves nearby.

Spain derailing

About 80 people were killed and about 140 injured when a high-speed train slammed into a concrete wall near the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela on 24 July 2013. The train had been approaching a curve at more than twice the speed limit.