At least 12 passengers were killed on Wednesday evening when they jumped from their train in panic due to a ‘fire incident’, only to be run over by another train on the adjacent tracks in North Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, officials said. Twelve bodies were sent to the nearby civil hospital while six to seven persons were injured, special Inspector General of Police Dattatraya Karale said. The accident took place between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora, more than 400 km from Mumbai, where the 12533 Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express had halted after someone pulled the chain around 5 pm, Central Railway officials said, without confirming the death toll.
Some passengers of the Pushpak Express jumped off, and were hit by the oncoming Karnataka Express heading from Bengaluru to Delhi, said Central Railway’s chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila.
IG Karale said that a “fire incident” occurred on Pushpak Express, at km 372/07 between Maheji and Pardhade stations. The train stopped at the location, and some passengers disembarked. Train No. 12627, Bengaluru-New Delhi Karnataka Express hit people standing on the railway tracks, he added.
“Six to seven people have been injured. All injured passengers are being treated at the hospital, none of their injuries are serious. Both trains have reached their respective next stations and the accident site has been cleared,” the senior police official added.
Pushpak Express departed from the spot in just 15 minutes, while the Karnataka Express was removed within 20 minutes after the accident.
Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan also reached the spot. The injured are being treated in a hospital in Pachora and most of them were out of danger, he said. Visuals from the accident spot showed a few bodies and severed body parts.
“Our preliminary information is that there were sparks and smoke inside one of the general 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 said.
An Accident Relief Train has been dispatched to the spot from Bhusaval, and Central Railway is making all efforts to provide medical aid to the injured passengers, an official statement said. Government and private hospitals in the area have been instructed to be ready to treat injured passengers, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on X.
In a video message from Davos in Switzerland, Fadnavis said, “Some passengers in the train mistakenly assumed that smoke is coming out of the train and they jumped. Unfortunately, they were ran over by another train. I announce Rs 5 lakh to the each kin of the deceased persons in this accident.” The state government will bear the entire cost of treatment of the injured passengers, he added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday spoke to Fadnavis, who briefed him about the train tragedy in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district.
“The train accident in Jalgaon, Maharashtra is extremely sad. I spoke to Chief Minister Shri @Dev_Fadnavis ji in this regard and took stock of the situation arising after the accident. The local administration is providing all possible help to the injured. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this accident and wish for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Shah wrote on ‘X’ in Hindi.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also expressed his grief at the deaths and called for immediate compensation to the victims and punishment to the guilty.
He also urged the party workers to pitch in with the relief work.
While Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan said 10-12 people were killed as per the district collector, Union minister Raksha Khadse, who hails from the district, said the death toll could be as high as 40.
