The tragic accident that killed over 60 people on Friday evening when they were busy celebrating Dussehra by burning Ravana effigy near a railway track in Amritsar has marred the whole country’s festive mood.?
The tragedy has left everyone grieving for the loss of life and an enquiry has already been ordered by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to find out the causes of the accident as well as the response with which the tragedy was addressed.?
Meanwhile, the driver of the train which crushed over 60 people to death has claimed innocence. According to IANS, Punjab Police officials said that the DMU (diesel multiple unit) driver had been detained at the Ludhiana railway station and was being questioned regarding the incident that took place on Friday night at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar city.
Sources said that the driver claimed that he was given a?green signal and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks when the train crossed the area.
No action has so far been initiated against the organisers, who are leaders of the ruling Congress in Punjab, of the Dusshera event. Police sources said that the organisers had gone underground.
Railway officials were also gathering information from the railway linemen posted along the tracks near the Jora Phatak area who failed to inform the DMU driver regarding the presence of over 700 people on the railway tracks who were watching the burning of the Ravan and other effigies during Dussehra celebrations.
As the Ravan and other effigies went up in flames with the deafening noise of bursting firecrackers, the people standing on the live railway tracks did not realise that a speeding train was approaching.
Nearly 150 people, most of who were watching the burning of effigies or were recording the event on their mobile phones, were mowed down by the train.