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| File photo (Pic: India TV) |
NEW DELHI (AA) – At least ten people were killed and eight others injured on Saturday when a speeding train mowed down passengers who had alighted from another train on the adjacent railway track at Gotlam station, 10kms from Vizianagaram in the eastern part of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP).
Sources in Indian Railways told Andolu Agency that some passengers on Allepey-Dhanbad Express had pulled the emergency alarm chain following a rumor that some of the train’s coaches had caught fire, thus bringing the train to make an unscheduled stop at Gotlam station.
As some passengers got down from the train on the adjacent track, Raigada-Vijaywada, a fast passenger train, came from the opposite direction and ran over the passengers.
Railway authorities are trying to ascertain why the passengers of Allepey-Dhanbad Express had pulled down the emergency chain and got down on the railway tracks.
English language news channel NDTV suggested that since the Gotlam station is on a curve, the driver of the speeding passenger train may not have seen the crowd on the tracks.
AP Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has expressed shock and conveyed his condolences to the victims and their families.
He has directed government officials from the Fire and Emergency Department to rush to the scene to supervise rescue operations.
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