At least 294 people were killed when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, derailed and then hit another passenger train coming in the opposite direction in India's eastern state of Odisha on Friday evening, local media Hindustan Times reported on Sunday. The cause of the multi-train collision was linked to a signal failure, according to preliminary investigations by local authorities.

Rescue teams, health workers, police, firerefighters and disaster response force personnel rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations immediately after the accident. The Indian Air Force has sent Mi-17 helicopters to aid the rescue efforts, which continued until late Saturday afternoon and all the injured passengers were shifted to hospitals.

Shankar Das, a survivor of the accident, told CGTN Stringer that he was on the train to Chennai and witnessed the moment the train derailed. He suffered multiple broken bones and was carried on a stretcher after the accident.