TRAGIC

37 Indian Pilgrims Killed in Train Accident

Protesters afterward beat driver, set fire to tracks.

A train killed at least 37 religious pilgrims in eastern India as they crossed a railway track, leading passengers to riot, beat the driver unconscious, and set fire to the train. The accident took place at a station that is inaccessible to the road, which meant that rescue workers were forced to walk two miles to the station to reach the victims. Villagers began to throw stones at the train, and a witness said an angry mob had beaten the driver, but police were unable to confirm reports that he had been killed. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a top official at the railway ministry, said the conductor had not been warned that pilgrims would be gathering at the station and that the driver had tried to brake when he saw them crossing the tracks. The police couldn’t confirm the death toll, saying many bodies had been dismembered.