Over 40 people have been injured after 15 coaches of the Sealdah-Ajmer Express derailed near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh in India Wednesday morning (December 28).

Eight of the passengers brought out of the wrecked coaches are believed to be in a critical state, confirmed senior police officer Zaki Ahmed, reports NDTV.

In dense early morning fog, the coaches of the 12987 Sealdah-Ajmer Express went off track when the train was crossing a bridge over a dry canal, nearly 70 km from Kanpur. Two coaches toppled off the bridge and fell into the canal bed.

The accident took place around 5.20 am. The cause is not known yet.

“Thorough investigation will be carried out to ascertain the cause,” India’s rail minister Prabhu said in a tweet, adding that he was personally monitoring the efforts.

This is a second rail accident in the region in two months. On November 20, nearly 150 passengers were killed in their sleep and nearly 200 injured after the Indore-Patna Express train slid off the track near Kanpur.

BDST: 1348 HRS, DEC 28, 2016
SR