At least 50 people were killed and others injured when they were run over by a speed train as they attended a Hindu religious festival Friday in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
"There are more than 50 dead," said a police official. "Now the priority is to move the wounded to the hospital." "It's a painful disaster," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Moody said on Twitter.
"People were sitting on the railway and soon on the outskirts of Amritsar watching the burning of puppets at the Dosera Festival; when they were run over by a passenger train," a police officer told Reuters.
According to witnesses, a large number of people were sitting on the railway to watch a show in the framework of a popular festival in northern India.
| The crowd was attending a Hindu festival in the northern Indian state of Punjab (Reuters) |
"There was a big fuss about fireworks, and people were unable to hear the sound of the train approaching," said a police official who was present at the scene.
A witness told a local channel that the train "arrived very quickly," pointing out that he saw another train hit the crowd. "Everyone was running in a mess, and suddenly another train hit a group of people," he said.
About 15,000 people a year are involved in rail accidents in India, according to a government report released in 2012.