NEW DELHI: Two passenger trains packed with festive travellers collided in northern India, killing at least 12 people and injuring 45, a railway spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Lucknow-Barauni Express was changing tracks late Tuesday when it was hit from behind by the Krishak Express in Uttar Pradesh state, throwing carriages onto their sides, said spokesman Anil Kumar Saxena.

“The death toll stands at 12. Another 45 people are injured,” Saxena said.

The driver of the Krishak Express has been suspended for overshooting the signal, the spokesman said.

Rescue workers, using metal cutters and other equipment, have retrieved trapped bodies while others were clearing the site and repairing the damaged tracks near the station in the city of Gorakhpur.

Railways Minister Sadanand Gowda said human error appeared to be the cause of the accident, with an official inquiry underway.

“It’s (the) loco pilot’s mistake, who neglected the signal. The loco pilot has been suspended, strict action will be taken for negligence,” the minister wrote on Twitter.

TV footage showed sandals, clothes, bottles and suitcases strewn through one of the destroyed carriages, whose roof had almost completely caved in.

“We were sleeping when we heard a loud bang followed by a massive jolt,” Ram Kumar Chaudhary, a passenger on the Lucknow-Barauni Express who was injured in the accident, told TV networks.

“The next thing we saw was that the passengers were piled one on top of the other and the coach was lying on its side.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2014