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61 killed as train hits crowd watching Ravana effigy burn in Amritsar
Amritsar train accident: A crowd of around 300 people was watching Ravan effigy burn when the local passenger train hit the people standing on the track.
A train plowed into a crowd that had spilled over to a railway track to watch Dussehra fireworks on the outskirts of Amritsar in Punjab, killing at least 61 people. About 72 others are reported to be injured, many of them seriously.
A crowd of around 300 people was watching the effigies being burnt as part of the Dussehra celebrations at about 6.45 pm when the speeding passenger train rolled down the tracks, said senior police officer Lakhbir Singh.
According to a video of the tragic accident, many of the victims were shooting videos on their mobile phones or taking selfies.
It appears from multiple accounts that people didn’t hear the approaching train as the effigy of Ravana burnt and the area resonated with the sound of the crackers.
The Nakodar Jalandhar DMU no. 74943 ran over them. The train was coming from Hoshiarpur to Amritsar via Jalandhar as scheduled around 7pm.
Sub Divisional Magistrate Amritsar (I) Rajesh Sharma said 61 people have died and at least 72 injured have been admitted to Amritsar hospital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was extremely saddened by the train accident. “The tragedy is heart-wrenching,” he tweeted.
Chief minister Amarinder Singh said Punjab will remain in mourning tomorrow in view of accident. “All offices and educational institutions will remain closed,” he said. The chief minister, who announced Rs 5 lakh for families of the dead, has cancelled his official visit to Israel in view of the tragedy.
Union railway minister Piyush Goyal, who is in the US, tweeted that he had cancelled all his engagements and was heading back to India.
Congress leader and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was the chief guest at the celebrations, told news agency ANI that she left the venue much before the accident took place. “I received a call about the tragedy just 15 minutes after I left,” she said.
Navjot Kaur Sidhu said he had rushed to the hospital so that she could help the survivors and families of the victims.
ANI quoted Northern Railway CPRO as saying that due to some incident, people started running towards gate no. 27 between Amritsar and Manawala.
News agency PTI said according to officials, two trains arrived from opposite direction at the same time giving little opportunity to people to escape. However, Northern Railways told ANI there only one train passing through the area.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh also expressed pain at the loss of lives.
