Amritsar Train Mishap leaves Severed Body Parts Strewn on Tracks in wake of Ravana Dahan
As the effigies of Ravana were being burned across the country to celebrate the festival of Dussehra, tragedy struck in form of the Amritsar train accident. In the city of Amritsar, as people were watching the effigy of Ravana burn, a train ran into the crowd killing sixty-two people and injuring another seventy-two. With that, the festive mood of Dussehra turned into one of grief with the Amritsar train accident
Navjot Kaur Sidhu, a former member of the Legislative Assembly was the chief guest at celebrations taking place near Joda Phatak. Joda Phatak is known manned crossing which gets its name due to the fact that Pathankot railway line and the Jalandhar railway line meet near it in the outskirts of the city.
There is an open area next to the crossing where the celebrations of Dussehra and the burning of Ravana’s effigy take place annually. The grounds draw a huge crowd on the day of Dussehra and on 19th October people from the crowd were standing on the tracks as it offered a vantage point.
As the effigy of Ravana was burned down, the events that led to the Amritsar train accident were set into motion. Firecrackers were released and people backed away from the effigy and pushed towards the railway tracks where already many people were present.
With people busy recording the “Ravana Dahan” on their phones and the din created the crowd and the crackers no one noticed the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU speeding towards them. Tragedy struck in the form of Amritsar train accident and many came under the train. The tracks were later found to be strewn with cut body parts.
The surviving injured were taken to a government hospital while some were taken to the Guru Nanak Hospital. Many of them are critically injured and the hence the death toll is feared to rise.
Ministers and politicians have cancelled or cut short their trips to be in Amritsar and compensatory ex-gratia amounts have been announced but the tragedy of Amritsar train accident has ruined Dussehra for forever some families.
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