President Bola Tinubu has expressed his condolences to the government and people of the Republic of India following a multiple train crash in the country that killed over 280 people.
On Friday, a fatal crash involving two passenger trains and a goods train occurred in the Indian city of Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha.
Aside from those killed, over 900 people were injured in one of the worst rail accidents in recent history.
Tinubu described the train accident as heartbreaking, while comforting the Indian government and victims’ families.
“My heart goes to the families of those affected in the unfortunate and heartrending train crash in the Indian State of Odisha.
“We stand with India in brotherhood at this difficult time. The magnitude of the crash and the high casualty figure call for global support for India to adequately respond to this calamitous accident.
“I send my deepest sympathy and condolences to His Excellency Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the people of India and the families of those trapped in the crash,†the President said.
On Friday, a passenger train derailed onto the adjacent track and was hit by an incoming train, as well as a nearby stationary freight train.
After hundreds of emergency workers searched the wreckage, a massive recovery operation is underway.
The cause of India’s worst train crash in more than 20 years is still unknown.
According to officials, several carriages of the Coromandel Express, which runs between Kolkata and Chennai, derailed in the Balasore district after colliding with a stationary goods train.
Several of its coaches ended up on the wrong path.
Another train travelling in the opposite direction – the Howrah Superfast Express travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah – then hit the overturned carriages.
“The force with which the trains collided has resulted in several coaches being crushed and mangled,†Atul Karwal, chief of the National Disaster Response Force said.
More than 200 ambulances and hundreds of doctors, nurses and rescue personnel were sent to the scene, the state’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena said.