E-Paper
Six of a family die in train-car collision in Punjab
Six people were killed and one person was critically injured in an accident when a car collided with a passenger train at an unmanned railway crossing in Punjab's Benra village yesterday evening.
Six people were killed and one person was critically injured in an accident when a car collided with a passenger train at an unmanned railway crossing in Punjab's Benra village on Wednesday evening.
A Tata Indigo car, which was a part of a wedding convoy, collided with the Hisar-Ludhiana passenger train killing the mother, sister and three other female relatives, including a 10-year-old girl, and cousin of the groom.
They were shifted to Dhuri Civil Hospital by villagers and other relatives. Six of the passengers were declared brought dead, while one was shifted to Rajindra Medical Hospital, Patiala in a critical condition.
The car was dragged several meters, according to an eye witness.
As per information, the convoy of marriage was returning from village Saro (Sangrur) to Kauke Kalan, Jagraon (Ludhiana) after solemnising the marriage.
"As per eyewitness, it looks like a case of indecisiveness on the part of the driver over whether to move forward or not. The car had slowed down near the railway crossing as the train was about to come. There may be a possibility of the technical snag also. This would come up in the investigation," said SDM Bhupinder Mohan Singh, who visited the spot along with police officials.
It's second such incident in the recent past. On December 19, 2011, three people, including a driver of a school van, were killed in two incidents where trains rammed into vehicles at unmanned railway crossings in Sangrur district.
Meanwhile, the village residents expressed anger over the unmanned railway crossing in Sangrur district.
