On wrong track

Forty-eight people were killed and 11 seriously injured when a tractor-trolley carrying a marriage party was hit by a passenger train on Thursday at an unmanned railway crossing around 4.25 pm at Kanhan, 30 km from Nagpur.

Kanhan police station in-charge Sanjay Purandare told Express the death toll could go well beyond 50. The deceased include three boys and seven girls and over 30 women. The injured have been admitted to a hospital at Kamptee town.

The mishap occurred when the tractor driver tried to cross the tracks despite seeing the Ramtek-Nagpur passenger train speeding. Sudershan Shende, an eyewitness from a school on the other side of the track, said: The train rammed the trolley when it came in the middle of the track, flinging nearly 50 people in air. The passengers fell down with a thud and many of them came under the wheels of the train, killing most of them on the spot.’’