NEW DELHI, 17 June 2004 — Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav said yesterday that 20 people were killed and around 100 more were injured when a passenger train plunged off a bridge in western India after hitting a boulder.

The accident occurred early morning on a bridge between Veer and Karanjadi stations some 190 kilometers from Bombay in western Maharashtra state, Laloo said.

Television footage showed mangled coaches of the Matsyagandha Express lying on their sides while two carriages hung precariously from the 27-meter high bridge.

Laloo rushed to the site and promised to punish rail officials if negligence was established as the cause of the crash.

“Reports indicate the accident was caused by falling of boulders due to heavy rains and we are investigating whether it could have been averted,” he said, as rail engineers conceded that steel nets put up across loose rocks alongside the tracks were inadequate.

“There will not be any compromise on the safety and security aspects. For this, funds will not be a constraint. We need to instill more confidence in passengers,” Laloo said.

Officials at the site said the engine of the crowded train, which was traveling at about 90 to 95 kilometers per hour, slammed into a boulder that was on the tracks.

“At that speed a disturbance of this magnitude leads to an unstoppable chain reaction,” a senior engineer told reporters at the site.

B. Rajaram, managing director of Konkan Railways which operates trains in the region, said the crash occurred despite the precaution of installing steel nets across loose rocks. “Nature has again humbled man,” said a visibly shaken Rajaram.

A doctor from a nearby hospital said 60 of the injured were being treated in his facility. Fifteen of them were in a critical condition, he said.

“Most of the injured have chest, back and abdominal injuries. Some of them have been transferred to Bombay for further treatment,” said Ajit Gavli, head of the Mahad hospital.

The train had been traveling between the southern port city of Kochin in Kerala state and Bombay.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, meanwhile, said he was “deeply shocked” by the crash and added that he had ordered Laloo to provide all possible help to the survivors.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam too expressed his condolences to relatives of those killed and in a message said he hoped “all possible efforts and rescue measures will be made to provide relief and special care for the injured.”