TRAIN KILLS 58 AT INDIA FESTIVAL
NO WHISTLE Hundreds on track watching fireworks
• A speeding train ran through a crowd watching fireworks during a religious festival in northern India on Friday, killing at least 58 people and injuring dozens more, police said.
The train failed to stop after the accident on the outskirts of Amritsar, a city in Punjab state 465 km north of New Delhi, according to Congress party politician Pratap Singh Bajwa.
“I have lost my minor child. I want him back,” a mother cried.
Two trains arrived from the opposite direction on separate tracks at the same time giving little opportunity to people to escape, according to The Press Trust of India news agency. However, the casualties were caused by one of the trains, it quoted officials as saying.
A witness said the train didn’t even sound its whistle as it sped past the site, where hundreds were standing on and near the tracks watching the burning of a demon effigy during Dussehra, the Hindu festival marking the triumph of good over evil.
“Why did authorities allow the fireworks display so close to the railroad track?” he asked.
As the effigy was lit and the fireworks started at the religious function, a section of the crowd started retreating toward railroad tracks while watching the event.
Some eyewitnesses told BBC Punjabi, many on the tracks were busy filming the festivities on their phones and did not notice the train approaching.
Another witness said the victims didn’t realize that a train was coming their way because the fireworks were too loud.
Screams filled the air as friends and relatives frantically searched for their loved ones. Severed bodies, including those of children, were still on the scene hours later because people were not allowing authorities to remove them, India Today reported.
“I removed the bodies from the tracks ... my hands were full of blood,” Amar Nath told BBC Punjabi.
Navjot Kaur Siddhu, a local politician who was the chief guest at the religious function, said the celebrations take place every year and railroad authorities are alerted to slow the trains.
Police Commissioner S.S. Srivastava said the police have found 58 bodies so far.
There was no railroad ministry statement on the accident.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was extremely saddened by the accident.