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At least 11 people have been killed and five injured after they fled rumours of a fire on board their train in India, only to be hit by another train.<\/p>\n
Railway officials said the passengers got down from the Mumbai-bound train in western Maharashtra state after someone pulled the emergency cord, causing it to stop.<\/p>\n
They were hit by a train on an adjacent track. It was not immediately clear whether there had actually been a fire.<\/p>\n
India has launched a $30m (\u00a324bn) programme to modernise its railways in recent years but this has been marred by a series of accidents, including a major three-train crash in 2023 in the state of Odisha<\/a> which left nearly 300 people dead. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a post on X that he was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives” during the incident near Pachora in Jalgaon district, about 400km from Mumbai, India’s financial capital.<\/p>\n He said eight ambulances had been dispatched and hospitals were on standby.<\/p>\n The crash will be seen as a setback for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has called for modernisation of the railways to boost the economy and connectivity.<\/p>\n There are plans to boost spending on the programme in next month’s budget, Reuters news agency reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n