12 dead as passengers get down on tracks, run over by another train in Maharashtra
At least 12 train passengers were killed after they jumped off their train panicky over a fire alarm and fell on the other track on which they were run over by another train. Four others were seriously injured.
The tragic incident took place near the Paranda railway station in North Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Wednesday evening, 400 km away from Mumbai, officials said.
The fatalities occurred as the passengers jumped off the train due to fear of fire in the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express, which halted on its track after someone raised a fire alarm around 5 pm.
They jumped to save their lives but the oncoming Karnataka Express heading from Bengaluru to Delhi, ran over them, 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. At the same time, Karnataka Express was passing,” a senior railway official told news agency PTI.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed shock and grief over the train accident. In a post on X, he said, “The tragic incident of the loss of lives in a very unfortunate incident near Pachora in Jalgaon district is deeply distressing. I pay my heartfelt tributes to them. My colleague Minister Girish Mahajan and the Superintendent of Police have reached the spot. The entire district administration is working in coordination with the railway administration, and immediate arrangements are being made for the treatment of the injured.”