The death toll in the train accident in Andhra Pradesh's Nalgonda district mounted to 77 as rescue workers retrieved more bodies from the mangled compartments.

Local police officials said Army personnel cut the derailed compartments with gas cutters and retrieved 50 bodies in the last three hours. The efforts are continuing and the toll might cross 100.

More than 100 people were also injured when the passenger train derailed and fell off a bridge into a rivulet early Saturday near Veligonda, about 80 km east of here.

The engine and seven compartments of Repalle-Secunderabad Delta Passenger Fast train jumped the tracks over Golapalli bridge and fell into overflowing rivulet around 4.20 am near Veligonda railway station.

Heavy rains and flood water had washed away a part of tracks and survivors said as soon as the engine approached the bridge they heard a loud thud.

Twelve hours after the accident, rescue teams of Army, Railway Protection Force, state police and local administration are continuing to look for survivors in the submerged and mangled compartments.

Their efforts succeeded when 25-year-old Haseena, who is seven months pregnant, was found alive with her husband. They said they woke up and were having 'shar' or pre-dawn meals for Ramzan fast when everything came falling on them. "I held on to a ceiling fan," she said. However, her younger sister died in the mishap.

Two Army helicopters airlifted many trapped passengers from the submerged compartments. Personnel of Golconda Regiment and Secunderabad Regiment also pressed boats and cranes into service to rescue people.

More than 400 people have been rescued from the affected compartments and sent to Nalgonda, Guntur, Secunderabad and other destinations through special trains and buses.

Intermittent rains and bad weather hampered rescue and relief operations. Police also had a tough time as hundreds of villagers gathered at the accident site.

Minister of State for Railways R. Velu, who visited the site along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, announced Rs.500,000 compensation each for the kin of those killed in train accident in Andhra Pradesh.

He said Railways would pay Rs.100,000 as ex-gratia while another Rs.400,000 would be paid as insurance from Railways Claims Tribunal. A member of the family of each deceased will also be provided job in Railways.

He said Rs.15,000 would be paid to each of the injured. Velu said 106 people were injured and three of them were in serious condition. While 65 injured were shifted to Lalaguda Railway Hospital in Secunderabad, the remaining were undergoing treatment in Nalgonda.

He said the accident occurred due to breach in series of tanks upstream and sudden gush of water in the rivulet. Claiming that Railways take all precautions at bridges, he admitted that the inspection on rivulets should be made more effective. "It has been raining heavily in the area. It was near cloud burst situation," he said.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy denied that there was any delay in undertaking rescue and relief operations. "Everybody has moved so fast that 400 passengers trapped in the derailed bogies could be saved," he said.