At least 12 dead after train runs over passengers who jumped to tracks fearing fire in Maharashtra
MUMBAI, JAN 22 : At least 12 train passengers were killed after stepping down due to a rumour of fire and being run over by another train passing on the adjacent tracks in North Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Wednesday evening, officials said.
Twelve bodies have been recovered from the train accident site in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, Special Inspector General of Police Dattatraya Karale told PTI.
Earlier, Maharashtra Minister Girish Mahajan, citing information from the district collector, told a news channel that 10 to 12 people had died.
The accident took place between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora where the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express had halted after someone pulled the chain due to a rumour of fire around 5 pm, Central Railway officials said.
Some passengers of Pushpak Express stepped down, and were hit by the oncoming Karnataka Express heading from Bengaluru to Delhi, said Central Railway’s chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila.
The accident spot is more than 400 km away from Mumbai.
“Our preliminary information is that there were sparks inside one of the coaches of Pushpak Express due to either ‘hot axle’ or ‘brake-binding’ (jamming), and some passengers panicked. They pulled the chain, and some of them jumped down. At the same time, Karnataka Express was passing,” a senior railway official told PTI.
“Senior officials are reaching the spot, after which more information will be available,” said Maharashtra minister Gulabrao Patil who is also the guardian minister of Jalgaon.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said Jalgaon General Hospital and nearby private hospitals are being kept ready for treating passengers injured in the train tragedy.
“The tragic loss of lives in a very unfortunate incident near Pachora in Jalgaon district (which) is deeply distressing. I pay my heartfelt tributes to them,” Fadnavis, who is in Davos, posted on X.
He said state minister Girish Mahajan and the superintendent of police have reached the spot and the district collector will reach there shortly.
The Jalgaon district administration is working in coordination with the railways, and immediate arrangements are being made for the treatment of the injured, he said.
Fadnavis said eight ambulances have been dispatched to the spot.
The general hospital as well as other nearby private hospitals have been kept ready for the treatment of the injured, he added.
“Emergency equipment like glass cutters, floodlights etc. have also been kept ready. We are monitoring the entire situation and all necessary assistance is being provided immediately. I am in touch with the district administration,” Fadnavis noted.
-PTI
