The goods train was stationary at the time of the accident, and the passenger train crashed into it from behind, damaging the first few carriages, Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao told reporters.
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Television footage showed the mangled first carriage of the passenger train partially perched atop the last carriage of the goods train, as police and rescue teams worked to pull out survivors while a crowd watched from parallel tracks.
Railway authorities said a detailed inquiry would be conducted into the incident.
India’s railway network — the world’s fourth largest — has been undergoing a $30 billion modernisation with new trains and upgraded stations. Rail accidents, however, remain common in the country, which witnessed one of its deadliest train collisions in recent years in 2023, when three trains crashed in the southern state of Odisha, killing 288 people.