Reuters on June 3 quoted public relations officer KS Anand of India's South Eastern Railway as saying that the death toll in the collision of two trains on June 2 had risen to 261 people.
Earlier, Director General of the Odisha Fire Service Sudhanshu Sarangi said at least 288 people had died but the toll could rise to 380.
Tragic train accident, hundreds of people died in India
"Many people have been rushed to hospitals but are dying and we are still removing bodies from the scene. Rescue work is still going on as some bodies are under the carriages and rescue teams are trying to remove them," Mr Sarangi said at the scene.
State Chief Minister Pradeep Jena confirmed that about 900 injured people had been taken to hospital.
The June 2 accident was the third deadliest rail disaster in India's history and the worst since 1995, when two high-speed trains collided, killing more than 300 people.
According to AFP, the accident occurred when a high-speed train running north-south from Bengaluru (Karnataka) to Kolkata (West Bengal) derailed in Balasore district, Odisha state, with some carriages falling near the north-south track. Minutes later, another train running north-south from Kolkata to Chennai (Tamil Nadu) crashed into the derailed train, with some carriages crashing into a nearby freight train.
Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force and the Air Force have been deployed to the scene while the Railway Ministry has launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. All hospitals in the region are receiving victims and 200 ambulances, plus buses, have been dispatched to take the victims to emergency care.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent his condolences to the families of the victims and will visit the scene and hospital on June 3.
Aerial view of the scene of a train accident in India
Train cars lay scattered while a large number of rescue workers were present at the scene.
The train cars lie across each other.
National Disaster Response Force personnel during a rescue operation.
Photo taken from a flycam shows the entire scene of the accident in Balasore district, Odisha state.
Train cars stacked on top of each other after the accident
Photos taken from a flycam show the carriages of two passenger trains that crashed.
The front of a train
Indian soldiers search for victims in destroyed train carriages
The collision caused many train cars to be deformed.
Rescue teams remove the victim's body from a train car.
The bodies of the victims were gathered at the scene.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visits the scene
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