By Naysa Shrivastava
On Wednesday, 13 passengers of Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express were killed by jumping off the train because a tea-seller initiated a false rumour of fire breakout in the train. He pulled the chain and many leaped from the train and got struck by Karnataka Express oncoming on an adjoining track. This led to the loss of 13 lives and 15 people got injured.
An eyewitness said, “A tea seller said that the train coach was on fire and pulled the emergency chain. The train slowed down and people jumped off to save their lives.” The accident happened near Pachora town, Jalgaon district, North Maharashtra, between Maheji and Pardhade stations.
“By the given information there is no evidence of spark or fire breakout on the train”, said Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information & Publicity, Railway Board. He denied all the claims of the train catching fire. The Railway Ministry declared ex-gratia of Rs.1.5 lakh each to the family of the person who died, Rs.50,000 for critical wounds and 5,000 for normal injuries.
In a video message, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief and said, “Some people wrongly assumed and got panicked which led to the unfortunate death of 13 people because they jumped from the train and ran over by the other train. He distinctly announced financial help of 5 Lakh each to the next of the kin who died in the accident.
PM Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah, expressed their condolences for the deceased and hoped for the speedy recovery of injured passengers through X posts. They gave assurance to all the injured passengers and families of the deceased ones.
A statement issued by the Railway Board stated, “Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishanav has expressed sadness over the incident and is carefully looking into the matter after taking the information from the Railway Board Chairman and other officials. He gave orders regarding the proper treatment of injured passengers.”