At least 16 people, probably new migrants to Surat, have been killed by a running train late on Wednesday night.
The accident occurred over a drain near Udhna, a suburban station south of Surat which attracts thousands of migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar.
According to Western Railway sources, two dead bodies were first noticed by the driver of a passing train shortly before midnight.
Following the alert sounded by the driver, a search team was sent from Surat which discovered as many as 16 bodies on the track, including two women and two children.
Gunny bags containing utensils and other household articles were also found in the vicinity. Two tickets recovered from the bodies indicated that the group of people had arrived to Surat from a town in Uttar Pradesh, said a spokesperson of the Western Railways.
It seems that the group of people were crossing the track over the drain when a passing train mowed them down in the dead of night, the source indicated.