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Train mows down pilgrims
14/09/2007 11:42 - (SA)
Lucknow - At least 14 Hindu
pilgrims were killed in northern India after five of them were
run over by a train on a bridge and the rest panicked and
jumped into a river and drowned, officials said on Friday.
The incident, which occurred late on Thursday in Uttar
Pradesh state, led hundreds of pilgrims to go on the rampage as
they set ablaze a carriage on the train, damaged railway
property and blocked the track for hours.
Authorities said pilgrims on the train stopped it by
pulling the emergency chain as it passed over the bridge to
collect water from the Saryu river, considered sacred to many.
"As the train came to a halt over the bridge, some pilgrims
got down to fetch the river water," said JN Chamber, the
state's home secretary.
"Another scheduled train came on the other track over the
bridge, leaving those on the bridge in a nervous and confused
state and leading to the accident."
Railway officials said five pilgrims were crushed under the
wheels of the train and rescue teams had recovered nine bodies
from the river so far.
The devotees, also known as "Kanwarias", walk hundreds of
miles every year to collect holy water from rivers in northern
India and also visit temples across the region.
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