Train mows down crowd at India festival; at least 58 dead

NEW DELHI — A speeding train ran over 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, said the state governing Congress party politician, Pratap Singh Bajwa.

The Press Trust of India news agency said two trains arrived from the opposite direction on separate tracks at the same time giving little opportunity for people to escape. However, the fatalaties and injuries 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 gathered during the Hindu festival of Dussehra.

“Why did authorities allow the fireworks display so close to the railroad track?” he asked, adding that he lost two brothers.

Another witness said the victims didn’t realize that a train was coming because the fireworks were too loud.

Navjot Kaur Siddhu, a local Congress party politician who was the chief guest at the religious function, said the celebrations take place in the area every year and railroad authorities are alerted to run the trains at slow speeds.

A large number of people live in the area with homes on both sides of the railroad tracks, she said.

However, junior Railways Minister Manoj Sinha said after visiting the accident site that organizers of the festival did not alert railroad authorities about their plan to hold a religious function there. In Brazil: One of the most prized possessions of Brazil's National Museum has been found amid debris after a fire on Sept. 2 sent the building up in flames.

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