New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) In one of India’s worst train tragedies and the biggest this year, at least 35 passengers were killed, most of them in their sleep, and 25 injured when a coach of the Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh early Monday.
Following is a chronology of major rail accidents since 2000:
* Dec 3, 2000: Forty-six killed and over 130 injured when the Howrah-Amritsar Mail rams into a derailed goods train between Sarai Banjara and Sadhugarh in Punjab.
* June 22, 2001: Forty people killed when the Mangalore-Chennai Mail tumbles into the Kadalundi river near Kozhikode in Kerala.
* May 12, 2002: Twelve killed when the New Delhi-Patna Shramjeevi Express derails while passing over a bridge in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.
* June 4, 2002: Thirty-four killed when the Kasgunj Express crashes into a bus at a rail crossing.
* Sep 10, 2002: 120 people killed when the Kolkata-New Delhi Rajdhani Express derails over a bridge in Bihar.
* Jan 3, 2003: Eighteen killed as three coaches of an express train derail in south-central Maharashtra.
* May 15, 2003: A burst stove causes a devastating fire that sweeps through a speeding passenger train in Punjab, killing 40 people and injuring more than 50.
* June 22, 2003: In the first major accident on the Konkan Railway, 53 people, including three children, are killed and 25 injured when the engine and three coaches of the Karwar-Mumbai Central Holiday Special train derail after crossing Vaibhavwadi station in Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra.
* July 2, 2003: At least 22 passengers and motorists killed in a bizarre but ghastly accident in Andhra Pradesh, when the engine and two coaches of a train fall off a bridge crushing vehicles passing underneath.
* June 16, 2004: Mumbai-bound Matsyagandha Express goes off the tracks while crossing a bridge in Maharashtra’s Raigarh district, nearly 150 km from Mumbai, killing 20 people and injuring over 60.
* May 28, 2010: The 13-coach Gyaneshwari Express train derails after track-sabotage and its derailed coaches are hit by an oncoming goods train. 148 people die in the accident.
* July 19, 2010: The speeding Sealdah-bound Uttarbanga Express rams into the Vananchal Express at Sainthia station in West Bengal’s Birbhum district killing at least 60 people.
* May 22, 2011: At least 16 people killed when the vehicle in which they were travelling is hit by a train at an unmanned railway crossing in Bihar’s Madhubani district.
* July 7, 2011: At least 31 people killed and 17 injured when a train hits a bus carrying 80 passengers at an unmanned crossing.
* Nov 22, 2011: Seven people burnt to death when the Howrah-Dehradun express train catches fire in Giridih in Jharkhand.
* Jan 11, 2012: Five people killed in a collision between the Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Mail and a stationary goods train.
* May 22, 2012: At least 25 people killed when the Banglore-bound Hampi Express collides with a stationary goods train in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district.
* May 31, 2012: At least 7 people killed after the Howrah-Dehradun Doon Express derails near Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.
