Some 700 people were watching the huge effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers while standing on the railway line at Joda Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within the city when the train going to Amritsar from Pathankot came hurtling down around 7pm.
It took just about 10 to 15 seconds for the train to pass – and leave behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies.
Video clips posted on the social media showed some people who had apparently seen the approaching train trying to run away from the site. A few of them were also mowed down.
The Punjab government, in a statement in New Delhi, put the death toll at 40 but Amritsar Police commissioner S S Srivastava told reporters that “it is definitely more than 50-60” and that people were still being rushed to hospitals.
Another 50 people were also badly injured in the accident, officials said.
Most people reportedly could not hear the train’s horn due to the exploding crackers.
Sub-divisional magistrate Rajesh Sharma said 50 bodies have been recovered.
“Out of nowhere came the train,” said a man, sounding angry while speaking to journalists. “Before anyone could realise what was happening, it ran over scores of people.”
“When the effigy started to burn people began running away fearing it would fall on them,” said another man. “They did not realise that a speeding train was coming and the train did not sound its horn.” Another man felt that the tragedy would have claimed at least 100 lives. The dead included several children, another witness said.
Ironically, moments before the tragedy, another train passed by the area but there were no casualties, a railway official said.
A local resident, Nirmal Jit Sindhu, alleged that the Dussehra celebrations were organised by forcing the local administration to grant permission near the railway tracks.
He said last year the administration had not granted permission for the use of this venue for Dussehra celebrations owing to its proximity to the tracks.
Some people blamed Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur, who was the chief guest at the celebrations, saying her late arrival delayed the burning of the effigy by more than half an hour.
Sidhu told a news channel on telephone from Bengaluru that the death toll was alarmingly high. A railway official said in New Delhi that the drop gates at the spot were down but people still massed on the tracks in violation of railway rules.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced Rs500,000 compensation to the kin of the deceased and cancelled his proposed Israel visit to rush to Amritsar. “District authorities have been mobilised on a war footing,” he tweeted.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the horrific tragedy.
The prime minister announced a Rs200,000 compensation to the families of the dead and Rs50,000 to the injured.
