Thirteen people were killed after a fire rumour on a train crossing Maharashtra’s Jalgaon triggered panic among passengers, with several of them jumping off the train and getting crushed by another incoming train, said the police. The accident took place between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora, 400 km away from Mumbai, where the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express, a Daily Superfast Express train that runs between Lucknow to Mumbai, had halted after someone pulled the chain due to a rumour of fire around 5 pm, Central Railway officials said.
Some passengers of the Pushpak Express stepped down, and were hit by the oncoming Karnataka Express, heading from Bengaluru to Delhi, said Central Railway’s chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila.
“Our preliminary information is that there were sparks inside one of the coaches of Pushpak Express due to either ‘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 news agency PTI.
Out of 13 dead, seven people have been identified while there is no information about the six. The missing body parts have further compounded the search.