The engine and two coaches of the Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derailed near Bachrawan railway station, 50 km from Lucknow.

At least 34 passengers of the Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express were killed and around 150 injured when four coaches derailed near Bachrawan station in Rae Bareli district on Friday.

The toll could increase as around 60 seriously injured passengers have been admitted to hospitals in Lucknow and Rae Bareli.

“The toll has mounted to 34. While 30 persons died in Rae Bareli, four were declared brought dead in Lucknow,” U.P. Minister Manoj Kumar Pandey said.

“There could be more deaths,” said Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Mahesh Gupta.

One of the coaches that derailed was a jam-packed general compartment, railway sources said. They said brake failure could have led to the derailment around 9.30 a.m. on the Lucknow-Rae Bareli-Pratapgarh section — which is around 50 km from Lucknow — that left two coaches severely mangled.