At least 11 killed in rail accident in west India, local media says
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A screenshot from the scene of a rail accident in India, in which passengers were hit by another train after they disembarked.
SCREENSHOT: X/@ANI
NEW DELHI – At least 11 people died in a rail accident in India’s western Maharashtra state on Jan 22 when they disembarked from their train, fearing a fire, only to be hit by another train passing on the adjacent track, the local media reported.
Railway officials told the local media that someone had pulled the train’s alarm chain, causing it to come to a halt, after which several passengers disembarked onto the adjacent tracks and were mowed down by another passing train.
“As per the information, 11 people have died in the accident and five others are injured,” Mr Praveen Gedam, a senior railways official in Nashik region, told ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said ambulances had been dispatched to the spot – located about 400km away from India’s financial capital Mumbai – and arrangements were being made to treat the injured.
“Emergency equipment like glass cutters, floodlights et cetera have also been kept ready,” he said on social platform X.
India’s railways is the fourth largest train network in the world and is undergoing a US$30 billion (S$40 billion) upgrade as part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to boost connectivity.
Rail accidents in the last two years, including a collision in 2023 that killed at least 288 people, have tarnished its image, however.
India plans to bump up spending on the modernisation of its railways in the federal budget, to be presented next month, Reuters reported earlier this week. REUTERS