President conveys sympathies in wake of India train crash

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has offered his deepest sympathies to the people affected by the deadly three-train crash in India’s Odisha state last weekend.

In a tweet on Sunday, President Solih said he was “saddened to hear of the tragic train crash”.

“On behalf of Maldivians, I offer our deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragedy,” he said.

 President Solih said his thoughts and prayers are with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government and people of India.

The train crash saw a passenger train collide with a stationary goods train and derail, after being wrongly directed onto a loop track by the side of the main line. Derailed carriages then struck the rear carriages of a second passenger train passing in the opposite direction.

The crash killed 275 people, and injured 1,175 more.

Friday’s crash marks India’s worst train disaster since 1981, when an overcrowded passenger train was blown off the tracks and into a river during a cyclone in Bihar state, killing about 800 people.