Category - News
13 Dead After Jumping From Train, Being Hit by Another
At least thirteen people are dead after jumping from a moving train and getting hit by another, BBC and The New York Times reported.
The tragedy occurred on Thursday in Maharashtra State, India at around 5:30 p.m. local time. Early reports indicate the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding on the first train. The Economic Times reported that rumors of an onboard fire spread amongst passengers, causing panic.
"Some passengers jumped out of the moving train to save themselves from the fire,” said police inspector Ashok Pawar told the outlet. “But the train was moving at a good speed, so one of the people pulled the [emergency] chain.”
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The train stopped about 170 miles from its destination in Mumbai. As it slowed, panicked travelers began disembarking, only to be hit by another train which was traveling on the adjacent track. At least 13 people have died and another 11 suffered “severe injuries” in the accident. Authorities don’t know the exact number of people who were on the first train but say it was filled with passengers. Many of them were migrant workers traveling to or from work. Officials say it’s unclear at this time whether or not there was a fire on the train.
“We will investigate exactly what was the reason, whether there was an actual fire or whether it is just a rumor spread by any mischievous person,” said Maheswar Reddy, the superintendent of police in the district where the accident occurred.
In recent years, India has launched a $30 million campaign to renovate and repair its vast but accident-prone railway system. June 2023 saw one of the country’s deadliest train crashes when two passenger trains collided head-on, killing 290 people. Last June, another crash killed eight people after a freight train hit a derailed commuter line.