It was close to 11:45 pm, when the accident happened, a survivor said.
For three to four hours, survivors of Tuesday night's train accident were trapped inside coaches submerged in water while some died waiting for help to arrive, a passenger told reporters.
"A sudden jolt yanked us awake. We woke up to see the train had collapsed into the culvert. When we opened the doors, there was water all around," Shavez, a passenger on board the Jabalpur-Mumbai Janata Express, said.
"Within a few seconds, before we could get out, the train coach turned on its side and we were trapped inside. We had water up to our necks. No one came to our rescue for three to four hours," he said.
At least 28 people were killed and 40 were injured after two passenger trains derailed within minutes of each other while crossing flooded tracks in Madhya Pradesh late on Tuesday night. Around 25 people are still missing, sources say, as rescue operations continued on Wednesday morning.
The culvert was weakened by a sudden surge of water, a top Railways official said.
Six coaches of the Kamayani Express running from Mumbai to Varanasi derailed at around 11:30 pm while crossing a culvert near the Machak river close to Harda, about 160 kilometres from state capital Bhopal.
Minutes later, an engine and four coaches of the Janata Express, going to Mumbai from Jabalpur, derailed. Among those who have died are 10 women and five children, the Madhya Pradesh government said.
Railway Chairman AK Mittal said a flash flood caved the tracks as the soil shifted. The surge of water had weakened the
culvert which was safe even 10 minutes before the accident, he said.
Local residents played a big role in rescue efforts in the middle of the night, as rescue teams were delayed because of heavy rain and damaged roads due to flooding.