Death toll in Indian train crash rises to 77

A passenger train derailed early today in southern India, crashing into a rain-swollen river and killing 77 people, police said…

A passenger train derailed early today in southern India, crashing into a rain-swollen river and killing 77 people, police said.

Rescue workers retrieved the bodies of 77 people from seven carriages of a passenger train that derailed and fell into a rain-swollen river in southern India on Saturday, railway officials said.

"So far 77 bodies have been recovered. Search operations are still going on," said Thomas Verghese, general manager of India's southern railway. About 100 injured passengers had been rescued from the seven carriages that derailed after floods washed away the tracks in the town of Veligonda in Andhra Pradesh state.

Scores more passengers remained trapped in the coaches, as soldiers and local villagers used gas torches to cut open the carriages.

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AP