Bengaluru : In an early morning train accident near Bengaluru, 11 passengers have died and many injured after coaches of Ernakulam-bound Bengaluru City-Ernakulam Intercity express (Train no. 12677) derailed on the city’s outskirts.

The accident has been reported at Belagondapalli near Anekal town on the city’s outskirts around 7.35 a.m.

Railway sources said that nine coaches derailed causing the accident. A senior railway official said, “Initial reports suggest a boulder may have fallen on the track.”

Railway sources said that the three bodies have been removed from the coach and are yet to be identified. According to railway sources, D-7 and D-8 general compartment coaches are the worst affected and initial investigations reveal that the train may have come to an abrupt halt that has led to derailment of nine coaches.

Sources pointed out that the section between Anekal and Hosur was a slow section and was also a part of elephant corridor and hence trains moved slowly. However, the reasons could be established only after the technical team completed its probe.

Meanwhile, many injured, numbers that are still not known clearly, have been rushed to the nearby Narayana Hrudayalaya, Anekal General Hospital and Sparsh Hospital.

Heavy equipment are being summoned from Erode to remove the mangled remains on Anekal road and Hosur line of the Bengaluru-Salem section. The accident site is about 15 km from Tamil Nadu border.

Ernakulam Area Manager of Southern Railway Rajesh Chandran said that the names and addresses of the victims are yet to be ascertained.