At least 50 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Amritsar, officials said.
The train was coming from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred at Joda Phatak.
At least 300 people were at the spot watching ‘Ravan dahan’ at a ground near the tracks.
Sub Divisional Magistrate Amritsar I Rajesh Sharma said 50 bodies have been found and at least 50 injured have been admitted to a government hospital.
#Amritsar train accident video.#Panjab
— Sushant Kumar Rai (@Skraivns) October 19, 2018
pic.twitter.com/2hiimlYqeM
As the effigy was lit and the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said.
However, two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time giving little opportunity to people to escape, they said.
#Punjab: An eyewitness says, a train travelling at a fast speed ran over several people during Dussehra celebrations, in Choura Bazar near Amritsar pic.twitter.com/JziMF03JyS
— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2018
Several people were mowed down by one of the trains, they said.
Eyewitness at Amritsar accident site said, "Congress had organised Dussehra celebrations here without permission. Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife was the chief guest at the celebrations and she continued to give a speech as people were struck down by the train."
"Exact figure is not known but it is definitely more than 50-60. We are still evacuating people." Amritsar Police Commissioner SS Srivastava said on Amritsar train accident.
Tag: World , India , Train Accident , Dussehra