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Amritsar train disaster
On 19 October 2018, two Indian Railways passenger trains hit a crowd of people in the eastern outskirts of Amritsar, Punjab, killing at least 62 people and injuring approximately 200 more. The crowd had gathered to watch celebrations for the Hindu festival of Dussehra and were standing on the tracks.
Spectators were watching the burning of an effigy of Ravana as part of the Dussehra festival and had gathered on and around train tracks in the Joda Phatak area on the outskirts of Amritsar when a commuter train ploughed into the crowd.
The train was described as a diesel multiple unit (DMU) local passenger train travelling westbound from Jalandhar station to Amritsar. The Amritsar–Howrah Mail service, had passed in the opposite direction moments earlier, and this was later confirmed by the gateman in charge of the junction.
Several witnesses claimed that the train operator did not use the horn to warn spectators as the train approached the crowd. The driver said that he both honked and applied the emergency brakes but did not come to a complete halt because the crowd had begun to pelt the train with stones.
Local Congress politician Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the wife of the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Amritsar East, was the guest of honour at the event. She said she had left the site shortly before the accident occurred but that she returned as soon as she heard about it. Sidhu also said that the celebration was held there every year and that the railway authorities were alerted in advance of the need to moderate their speed.
At least 62 people were killed. By the evening of 19 October, 50 bodies had been discovered and at least 50 others had been admitted to a nearby hospital while an additional nine bodies were found the next day. Due to the force of the train's impact, many victims were dismembered or mutilated beyond recognition, which delayed body identification.
A local official said that most of the victims were migrant workers and their families from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who lived in the area. Navjot Singh Sidhu visited some of the survivors and family members of the dead at a local hospital, on 20 October. During his visit two women met with him who had reportedly lost their entire families, including children, husbands and even in-laws.
The majority of those identified were cremated at the Shitla Mata Temple in Amritsar, while a few others were sent back to their hometowns. Allegations were reported to the local media, that after the crash some of the crowd stole valuables of the victims and survivors; family members also reported that only the bodies of their relatives were returned but not their effects.
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Amritsar train disaster
On 19 October 2018, two Indian Railways passenger trains hit a crowd of people in the eastern outskirts of Amritsar, Punjab, killing at least 62 people and injuring approximately 200 more. The crowd had gathered to watch celebrations for the Hindu festival of Dussehra and were standing on the tracks.
Spectators were watching the burning of an effigy of Ravana as part of the Dussehra festival and had gathered on and around train tracks in the Joda Phatak area on the outskirts of Amritsar when a commuter train ploughed into the crowd.
The train was described as a diesel multiple unit (DMU) local passenger train travelling westbound from Jalandhar station to Amritsar. The Amritsar–Howrah Mail service, had passed in the opposite direction moments earlier, and this was later confirmed by the gateman in charge of the junction.
Several witnesses claimed that the train operator did not use the horn to warn spectators as the train approached the crowd. The driver said that he both honked and applied the emergency brakes but did not come to a complete halt because the crowd had begun to pelt the train with stones.
Local Congress politician Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the wife of the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Amritsar East, was the guest of honour at the event. She said she had left the site shortly before the accident occurred but that she returned as soon as she heard about it. Sidhu also said that the celebration was held there every year and that the railway authorities were alerted in advance of the need to moderate their speed.
At least 62 people were killed. By the evening of 19 October, 50 bodies had been discovered and at least 50 others had been admitted to a nearby hospital while an additional nine bodies were found the next day. Due to the force of the train's impact, many victims were dismembered or mutilated beyond recognition, which delayed body identification.
A local official said that most of the victims were migrant workers and their families from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who lived in the area. Navjot Singh Sidhu visited some of the survivors and family members of the dead at a local hospital, on 20 October. During his visit two women met with him who had reportedly lost their entire families, including children, husbands and even in-laws.
The majority of those identified were cremated at the Shitla Mata Temple in Amritsar, while a few others were sent back to their hometowns. Allegations were reported to the local media, that after the crash some of the crowd stole valuables of the victims and survivors; family members also reported that only the bodies of their relatives were returned but not their effects.