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At least 11 killed in rail accident in west India.
Railway officials told local media that someone had pulled the train’s alarm chain, causing it to come to a halt, after which several passengers de-boarded onto the adjacent tracks and were mowed down by another passing train, Al Arabiya News reported.
“As per the information, 11 people have died in the accident and 5 others are injured,” Praveen Gedam, a senior railway official in Nashik region, told ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said ambulances had been dispatched to the spot – located about 400 kilometers (250 miles) away from India’s financial capital Mumbai – and arrangements were being made to treat the injured.
“Emergency equipment like glass cutters, floodlights etc. have also been kept ready,” he said on messaging platform X.
Indian railways is the fourth largest train network in the world and is undergoing a $30 billion upgrade, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to boost connectivity.
Rail accidents in the last two years, including a collision in 2023 that killed at least 288 people, have tarnished its image, however.
MA/PR