Press Trust of India reported that at least 12 passengers died on Wednesday after being hit by a train on an adjacent track. They had jumped from their train in a panic, believing a fire had broken out.

Police officer Dattatraya Karale stated that at least six others sustained injuries.

The incident happened near Pardhade station in Maharashtra State, approximately 255 miles northeast of Mumbai.

According to railway spokesman Swapnil Nila, the victims leaped from the Pushpak Express after some passengers pulled the emergency chain. A passing Karnataka Express on the neighboring track struck those who had disembarked, PTI reported.

A senior railway official informed PTI that initial reports suggest sparks within a Pushpak Express carriage, possibly due to a hot axle or brake failure, caused panic. Passengers subsequently pulled the emergency chain and some jumped onto the tracks, where they were hit by the approaching Karnataka Express.

Despite government initiatives to enhance rail safety, accidents continue to occur on India’s extensive railway network, the world’s largest under single management.

In 2023, a collision of two derailed passenger trains in eastern India resulted in over 280 fatalities and hundreds of injuries, marking one of the nation’s deadliest rail disasters in recent decades.

India, now the world’s most populous nation with 1.42 billion people, is concentrating on modernizing its British colonial-era railway system.