Amritsar revellers mowed down on tracks by speeding trains while watching Ravana dahan; death toll may rise to 50 plus
The occasion of Ravan dahan to mark the end of Durga Puja festivities, turned out to be a heartrending event in Amritsar when a speeding train mowed down around 52revellers who were gathered on the tracks to watch the ten-headed effigy go in flames across the railway crossing. The revellers did not hear the approaching trains in the deafening burst of crackers.
While around 52 were feared dead in the gruesome accident, many more were injured. The train was coming from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred in the evening at Joda Phatak.
“There are more than 50 casualties. We are evacuating people, injured are being taken to the hospital”, said SS Shrivastava, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, moments after the tragedy, indicating the magnitude of the tragedy.
Sub Divisional Magistrate, Amritsar I, Rajesh Sharma said 50 bodies have been found and at least 50 injured have been admitted to a government hospital. Officials said the toll may be higher.
At least 300 people were watching ‘Ravana dahan’ at a ground near the tracks.
As the effigy was lit and the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said. However, two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time giving little opportunity to people to escape, they said.
Several people were mowed down by one of the trains, they said.
Eyewitnesses told The Pioneer that when the effigy was burnt the deafening noise of the crackers drowned the sound of the approaching train. . “No one heard the train coming and it was running at quite a speed,” said Sukhjinder Singh an eyewitness.
“I have lost my minor child. I want him back,” an inconsolable mother could be heard.
“Several times we have been requesting the authorities and local leaders telling them to take up the issue with railway authorities to slow down the trains near this Phatak during Dussehra, but no one has listened,” a local said.
Wails and cries of people filled the air as friends and relatives frantically looked for their near and dear ones. Severed bodies, including of many children, were still lying on the accident site hours after the incident with angry people not allowing authorities to remove them.
It was heart rending sight as the dismembered body parts laid strewn on the blood-soaked ground. Many bodies could not be identified. People shouted slogans against local MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was present as chief guest during the event. She later said she rushed to the hospital immediately after the incident.
Another eyewitness blamed the organisers of the Dussehra committee for sheer negligence. “Were they not aware that a train passed from the track every day,” asked Pawan Kumar, the eyewitness.
She later told reporters that after she left the spot she got a call that such an accident had taken place. “I am camping at the hospitals to supervise rescue and relief...to ensure that people get the bodies of their near and dear ones. I will camp here the entire night to see that affected people get some succour.”
Navjot, also a former MLA, wondered how train could move at a speed and there was no mechanism to warn railway authorities about the gathering.
Eyewitnesses said there were no barricades near the railway tracks and the people were forced to see the Dusshehra ceremony by standing on tracks. The effigy of Ravana was being burnt around 200 feet away from the railway track.
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh rushed to Amritsar to personally supervised relief and rescue efforts.
He has asked all Government and private hospitals to stay open. “My Government will give Rs 5 lakh to kin of each deceased and free treatment to injured in Government and private hospitals. District authorities have been mobilised on war footing,” he tweeted.
