On Friday, over 50 people in the state of Amritsar, India, were tragically killed when a train plowed through a crowd of people watching a burning of Ravan effigy on the occasion of Dussehra. The crowd was standing along the railroad tracks, and when fireworks went off, the crowd backed over the tracks to avoid the flames. Then, two trains reportedly arrived at the same time, making it difficult to escape quickly. According to news network ANI, one eyewitness to the event said, “The administration and the Dussehra committee are at fault, they should have raised an alarm when the train was approaching, they should have made sure that the train halts or slows down.” Another eyewitness said, “Congress had organised Dussehra celebrations here without permission. Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife was the chief guest at the celebrations and she continued to give a speech as people were struck down by the train.” An early report has suggested that people were not adequately able to hear the trains incoming because of the noise of the fireworks. Below are photos and videos of the event and the accident. Several of them are graphic. Photos & Videos of the Amritsar Train Accident Amritsar train accident video pic.twitter.com/hb9Q3f9qL6 — Satinder pal singh (@SATINDER_13) October 19, 2018 tht's why india is one of the best nation#AmritsarTrainMishap #amritsar pic.twitter.com/vTgQrfYdTm — Sandy Satija シ (@sandy_satija) October 19, 2018 #Punjab: At gate no. 27 b/w Amritsar & Manawala. As Dussehra celebration was taking place some incident had occurred& people started rushing towards closed gate number 27 while a DMU train number 74943 was passing the closed gate: CPRO Northern Railway; Visuals from accident site pic.twitter.com/TMJILYC6Or — ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2018 Train runs over people celebrating Dussehra near Amritsar, at least 50 feared dead. In a tragic accident, at least 50 people died and many got injured when a train run over them while they were celebrating Dussehra. The accident happened near Joda Phatak area of Amritsar. pic.twitter.com/7NcCzg1KJK — Raizada Janmeet Singh Bali (@janmeetsinghba2) October 19, 2018 BREAKING: '60 feared dead' as train hits parade crossing railway in Amritsarhttps://t.co/BMrS20P8zF pic.twitter.com/auUTW2Yo1F — Mirror Breaking News (@MirrorBreaking_) October 19, 2018 Sveral people were killed after a train ran into crowds at Joda Phatak crossing in Amritsar. The number of dead and injured is still not clear but different sources quoted different casualty figures ranging between 30 and 60 dead. pic.twitter.com/1lQV6Go9P6 — lionsuman (@LIONSUMAN) October 19, 2018<doc-sep>1. WRONG PLACE: 2. WRONG TIME 3. SEPARATION WALL 4. LED SCREEN: 5. FIREWORKS: 6. TRAIN ARRIVES: To catch a glimpse of the fireworks, many took up spots outside the 1.5-acre ground. They assembled on top of houses around it and even on the railway tracks on the other side: The main event began around 6.15pm, after former minister Navjot Kaur Sidhu arrived at the venue. She was among the dignataries who spoke till 6.40pm when dusk had fallen. : As a 12-foot-tall wall separates the ground and the railway tracks, some people moved away from the ground and towards the railway tracks to get a better view of the fireworks.To attract more people to the venue, organisers had installed a giant LED screen on the boundary wall, facing the rail tracks. Nearly 400 people had gathered around it outside the wall.As organisers set on fire the 25-foot Ravan effigy around 6.50pm, loud fireworks scared the crowd into moving further away from the boundary wall and towards the tracks. Most of them ended up standing on the tracks.Fireworks drowned out sound of Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU, which was moving at 91km/hr and mowed down people on tracks. Gateman at crossing 400m before accident site allowed train to pass, unaware of crowd on tracks. Some who escaped ended up on the adjacent track and got caught in a stampede.<doc-sep>Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. The tragedy is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to the… https://t.co/6jiATjWfM6 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1539961804000 Pained beyond words at the loss of precious lives due to a train tragedy during Dussehra festivities in Punjab. My… https://t.co/WMjDUqrtc4 — राजनाथ सिंह (@rajnathsingh) 1539960766000 Shocked to hear about the tragedy on rail tracks in Amritsar, Punjab. Understand Indian Railways and local authorit… https://t.co/jziHlFX7bp — President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) 1539961597000 The train accident in Punjab in which over 50 people have died is shocking. I urge the state government & Congress… https://t.co/x8REkRzHgv — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) 1539961822000 Several people feared dead in train mishap near Amritsar CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased in the Amritsar train accident on Friday and said he was rushing to the spot to personally supervise rescue and relief operations.At least 50 people were killed when a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.The chief minister also announced free treatment to all injured in the accident.Sub divisional magistrate, Amritsar I, Rajesh Sharma said 50 bodies have been found and at least 50 injured have been admitted to a government hospital.Officials said the toll may be higher.As the effigy was lit and the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said.However, two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time giving little opportunity to people to escape, they saidSeveral people were mowed down by one of the trains, they added<doc-sep>Ashwani Lohani, the chairman of the Railway Board, said it was "wrong" to hold the railways responsible for what had happened because they had not been made aware of the event, and people "are not expected to be on the tracks".<doc-sep>
NEW DELHI: Eyewitnesses recounted horror as at least 50 people were mowed by a train during Dussehra celebrations on Friday night near Chouri Bazaar in Amritsar The people were in shock and disbelief as they narrated the incident. "The driver didn't blow the horn," alleged one of the witnesses.Another women was inconsolable as she said her son has been killed in the accident. "The administration and the Dussehra committee are at fault, they should have raised an alarm when the train was approaching, they should have made sure that the train halts or slows down," said another witness.On the other hand, another eyewitness at the Amritsar accident site alleged that the event was organised by the Congress party without seeking due clearances. "Congress had organised Dussehra celebrations here without permission. Navjot Singh Sidhu 's wife was the chief guest at the celebrations and she continued to give a speech as people were struck down by the train," the eyewitness was quoted saying by the news agency ANI.Officials on the ground emphasised circumstantial events.As the effigy was lit and the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said.However, two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time giving little opportunity to people to escape, they said.The speeding Jalandhar Express mowed down at least 50 revellers as it crushed and blew away anybody who came in its way. At least 300 people were at the spot watching ' Ravana dahan' at a ground near the tracks.