CHENNAI - At least seven people were killed and 20 injured when a local passenger train collided with a goods train in a Chennai suburb Wednesday. Train services in the region were disrupted, an official said.

‘The accident occurred a little before 6 a.m. at the northern Vyasarpadi suburb. A passenger train collided with a goods train comprising several oil tanks. The identities of the motormen who operated the two trains are being sought,’ a Southern Railway spokesperson told IANS.

He added that the injured were admitted to the General Hospital in this Tamil Nadu capital. The deceased are yet to be identified.

‘We heard a loud noise and then saw several railway compartments in flames. The smell emanating from bodies retrieved from the mangled coaches was nauseating,’ said M.N. Selvi, who lives near the Vyasarpadi railway station.

All local and long distance trains coming from Arakkonam (over 30 km north of Chennai) towards Chennai Central have been stopped enroute, the railway official said.

‘I’m going to miss my important meeting for negotiating a letter of credit worth Rs.110 million and tying up supplies,’ N.S. Veeraraghavan, an executive stranded at Perambur, told IANS.

The family of S.K. Vimalanathan, who was scheduled to be married before an auspicious period ends at 10.30 a.m., was stuck at Pattathiram.

‘Forcing my aged parents and relatives to alight on the tracks with luggage is out of question. We will have to delay the marriage beyond 3 p.m., when the next auspicious hour begins,’ said S. Krishnamurthy, the groom’s father.