At least 12 passengers lost their lives in western India on Wednesday after being struck by an oncoming train while fleeing from their coaches amid panic over a rumoured fire incident, according to the Press Trust of India.
Six others sustained injuries, police officer Dattatraya Karale told PTI.
The tragic incident took place in Jalgaon, one of Maharashtra’s major cities, near the Pardhade railway station, approximately 410 kilometers (255 miles) northeast of Mumbai, India’s financial hub.
The victims were aboard the Pushpak Express, which had come to a halt after passengers activated the emergency chain, PTI reported.
Those who disembarked onto the tracks were hit by the Karnataka Express passing on an adjacent line, railway spokesman Swapnil Nila explained to the news agency.
“Our preliminary information is that there were sparks inside one of the coaches of the Pushpak Express due to either a ‘hot axle’ or ‘brake-binding’ (jamming), and some passengers panicked. They pulled the chain, and some of them jumped down on the tracks. At the same time, Karnataka Express was passing on the adjoining track,” a senior railway official told PTI.
Despite ongoing efforts by the government to enhance rail safety, India’s vast railway network, the largest under single management globally, continues to witness hundreds of accidents annually.
In one of the most catastrophic rail disasters in recent history, two passenger trains collided after derailing in eastern India in 2023, claiming over 280 lives and leaving hundreds injured.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has prioritized modernizing the country’s colonial-era railway infrastructure to meet the demands of its growing population, which now stands at 1.42 billion, making it the world’s most populous nation.
