Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said Thursday that a train accident in Jalgaon was triggered by a “false rumour” about a fire inside the Pushpak Express, which caused panic among passengers and led some to jump off the train.
The incident occurred Wednesday evening when passengers on the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express, after hearing an alarm chain being pulled, exited the train and were struck by the Karnataka Express, travelling from Bengaluru to Delhi on an adjacent track.
Thirteen people were killed and 15 others were injured in the accident. Four, including a minor boy and two women, have been identified to be from Nepal, Special Inspector General of Police Dattatraya Karale told PTI.
“Of the 13, we have identified eight bodies so far, including two from their Aadhaar cards,” Karale said.
Pawar told reporters in Pune that a tea-seller in the train’s pantry falsely shouted that a fire had broken out in one of the coaches. Two passengers from Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh, spread the rumour, causing confusion and panic in the train’s general and adjoining coaches. In fear, some passengers jumped from the train as it was moving.
After the train came to a stop, passengers began to disembark and were hit by the passing Karnataka Express. Pawar described the impact as so severe that several victims’ bodies were severely disfigured.
“The accident was the result of a sheer rumour about a fire,” Pawar said.
Earlier, Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, denied that any spark or fire inside the coach caused passengers to pull the alarm.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in a video message from Davos in Switzerland, on Wednesday said, “Some passengers in the train mistakenly assumed that smoke was coming out of the train and they jumped. Unfortunately, they were run over by another train.”
The CM announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the passengers who died in the tragedy. The Railway Board separately announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased, Rs 50,000 for grievous wounds and Rs 5,000 for simple injuries.