Jalgaon , Passengers of the Pushpak Express, who got down from the train due to a fire rumour, had sufficient time to move to safer location as the Karnataka Express which mowed down 12 of them here arrived 20 minutes later, railway officials said on Thursday. The officials in New Delhi stated that those who alighted from the train, which had stopped due to pulling of emergency chain between Maheji and Pardhade stations at 4:45 pm on Wednesday, remained on the side tracks unaware of the imminent danger.
The approaching Karnataka Express which run over 12 passengers passed by at around 5:05 pm, they said while dismissing reports that some passengers of Pushpak jumped off the train in a hurry. The officials said the passengers who got down from Pushpak, travelling from Lucknow to Mumbai, were likely walking on the adjacent railway tracks and did not react in time upon seeing the oncoming train. Several videos shared by passengers prior to the tragedy also suggest the same, they said. “The initial version reported by many suggested that passengers didn’t have time to move to a safe place and they had no option but to jump on the tracks. But, it is incorrect. We are investigating the cause of chain pulling,” a railway official said. Passengers who saw the Karnataka Express approaching moved out of the track, while those who couldn’t notice or didn’t get enough time to move away came under it, the official said and stressed that adherence to basic safety precautions could have potentially saved lives. As the investigation continued, the death toll was confirmed to be 12 after officials clarified that a head and torso, initially believed to belong to different individuals, were actually from the same person. Initial reports on Wednesday had said the incident occurred when passengers of the 12533 Mumbai-bound Pushpak Express got off the train following a chain-pulling alarm and were subsequently struck by the Karnataka Express.
A state government official said that earlier the figure had been arrived at 13 as a woman’s body and a head were found at the scene of the accident, but a man identified the body parts as that of his mother.
“The Government Medical College has officially stated that the total number of dead persons is 12 as the torso and body are of the same deceased identified by her son,” he said.
The official said all bodies have been identified and they were being handed over to their respective families.
Meanwhile, a team of five senior railway officials has initiated an inquiry into the train accident, the Railway Board said.
Of those who lost their lives on the tracks, seven hailed from Nepal.
Lachchiram Khataru Pasi was among those seven persons. His family not only had to bear the grief of his death but also go through the extremely traumatic process of identifying him from mutilated body parts.
Pasi’s companions, who survived the tragedy, narrated how they remained huddled in the cramped space between the two trains to save themselves.
Earlier, four Nepalese victims were identified as Kamala Navin Bhandari , Javakala Bhate , Lachchiram Khataru Pasi and Imtiyaz Ali , as per a list provided by authorities.
Pasi’s nephew Ramrang Pasi, who lives in Jalgaon, said his uncle hailed from Narainapur in Nepal’s Banke district and was in his 50s.
“Some portions of his hands and legs are missing,” Ramrang told PTI.
Recounting the horror, Shaukat Ali, a worker from Nepal who was travelling with Lachchiram, said, “A fire rumour spread on the train. We saw smoke inside the bogie. When the train slowed, we hastily stepped down and the train got empty.”
As they got off, another train moving in the opposite direction approached within a couple of minutes. Before they could comprehend what was happening, everyone started running helter-skelter to save their lives while there was no place to escape, he said.
“We found a small space between the two trains and we laid down there, tightly holding each other, hence we survived,” Ali said.
The accident occurred between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora town, about 400 km from Mumbai.
Of the 15 injured passengers, 10 were undergoing treatment – nine at Pachora civil hospital and one at a medical facility in Jalgaon city. Others who suffered minor injuries were discharged, an official said.
A team of Central Railway on Wednesday night visited the hospitals and distributed a total ex gratia of ₹2.70 lakh to nine of the injured passengers, an official said.
Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, denied that any spark or fire inside the coach caused passengers to pull the alarm chain.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said in Pune on Thursday that the accident was due to a “sheer rumour” about a fire by a tea seller on the Pushpak Express, which led to panic and some passengers jumping off.
Two passengers from Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh heard it and conveyed the false alarm to others, leading to confusion and panic in their general coach and the adjoining one, he said.
The Railway Board said a five-member team comprising senior railway officials has launched a probe into the tragedy.
The team includes principal chief safety officer , principal chief security commissioner , principal chief electrical engineer , principal chief mechanical engineer and principal chief commercial manager – all from the Central Railway Zone, it said.
The team has initiated an investigation into the incident, said Kumar of the Railway Board. “The PCSO has been appointed as convener,” he said.
“They have been asked to look into the cause of the incident and submit a report as soon as possible,” he added.
Swapnil Dhanraj Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer , Central Railway, earlier told PTI that Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police had initiated a preliminary inquiry after the tragedy to find out what caused passengers to pull the alarm chain and alight the Pushpak Express.
Asked if the Commissioner of Railway Safety will also investigate the incident, Nila said, “The order for a CRS enquiry hasn’t been issued yet.”
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