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A train fell in a crowd of 500 Dussehra revelers who had been on a railroad track on the outskirts of Amritsar, Punjab, at 7 pm on Friday.
At least 60 people were killed and many others seriously injured – a monumental tragedy that could have been averted without some deadly failures.
NO BARRICADAGE OF TRACKS
Preliminary investigations revealed that neither the organizers nor the police administration had barricaded the tracks to prevent people from venturing there.
Eyewitnesses testified that the crowd flipped on the tracks when an image of Ravana was set on fire and crackers began to explode. While some were filming the effigy, others were trying to save themselves. DMU Nakodar Jalandhar # 74943 was suddenly approached and they did not have the chance to save themselves. The train was coming from Hoshiarpur to Amritsar via Jalandhar. The bodies were cut in pieces and scattered in an area between 100 and 150 meters from the tracks.
NO NOD OF RAILWAY AUTHORITIES
The railway authorities said that the organizers had received no permission to burn the effigy near the tracks. However, eyewitnesses said the driver, despite the presence of the crowd, did not trigger any sirens or reduce the speed of the train at 100 km / h, sources said.
The railway authorities indicated that they had no information about the event and that the driver did not have time to stop the train as people suddenly entered the train. way. However, it was also the responsibility of railway staff to clear the tracks and monitor obstacles, sources said.
IGNORE COPS ACCIDENT THREAT
Even though the exact number of police present at the scene of the accident is not known, those present were busy ensuring the safety of the main guest of the event, Navjot Kaur Sidhu.
Police and organizers ignored the security of the population, sources said.
The event was not organized for the first time. The effigy was burned in the same place for a while. Sidhu, according to sources, was also responsible for the local police superintendent who had deployed police to escort the VVIPs.
"The effigy was burnt and I had just left the site when the tragedy occurred, the priority is to have the wounded treated, the people who are doing the politics on this subject should be ashamed", they added.
Bikram Singh Majithia, former Minister of Revenue and leader of Akali Dal, slamming firmly on Sidhus and the local administration, said that it was a failure of the Local administration, especially the police, who did not barricade the lanes or deploy a sufficient number of police to arrest people. to enter the tracks.
There was no lighting
There was no lighting around the tracks. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered an investigation to determine the responsibility of officers supposed to maintain law and order in addition to security.
With the effigy on and the fireworks extinguished, some of the crowd began to retreat to the tracks where there were already a large number of people. A report indicated that two trains arrived at the same time from the opposite direction, leaving few opportunities for people to escape. Several people were shot dead by one of the trains.
The CPRO of the Northern Railways said that "because of an incident, people had started running to Gate # 27 between Amritsar and Manawala.
In the wake of the tragedy, the Punjab government on Saturday announced mourning throughout the state, with all schools remaining closed. CM Amarinder Singh, who rushed to the scene to oversee the rescue operations, announced a gracious 5 lakhs for the families of the victims of the accident.
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