[Rahul Bhalgat]

A very tragic accident today:

More than 60 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a Dussehra crowd that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Amritsar in Punjab.

The train was going from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred at Joda Phatak where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravan dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

This is so sad and tragic. My condolences to the families of the deceased.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

A very tragic accident today:

More than 60 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a Dussehra crowd that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Amritsar in Punjab.

The train was going from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred at Joda Phatak where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravan dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

This is so sad and tragic. My condolences to the families of the deceased.

Quite a tragic incident.
General public's ignorance and the fact that it was dark and loud made it a recipe for this disaster.

High time railways invest on barricading the tracks rather than invest on diesel locos and then realize they are supposed to go electric.

A recent accident when a truck rammed through a 'manned' level crossing and hit the coaches of New Delhi bound Trivandrum Rajdhani and derailing few coaches. The cleaner of the truck was killed.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

A very tragic accident today:

More than 60 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a Dussehra crowd that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Amritsar in Punjab.

Originally Posted by tharian

Quite a tragic incident.
General public's ignorance and the fact that it was dark and loud made it a recipe for this disaster.

It was negligence and our "chalta-hai" attitude -
- negligence on the part of the organizers to set it up next to a railway track without any announcement or safety measures
- negligence on the part of the people to stand on railway tracks with their eyes and mobiles on the ravan effigy with minimal focus on oncoming trains
- negligence on the part of the engine driver to continue through the folks with any horns (the absence of it is very very disturbing)

The videos below are short and brutally direct (no goryness); please keep that in mind

Link to video 1
Link to video 2

[tharian]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

- negligence on the part of the engine driver to continue through the folks with any horns (the absence of it is very very disturbing)

The loco pilot did honk. It's audible in other videos.
This was a DEMU and the horns on most of these are a bit dull when compared to a Loco horn and add to that the sound of these explosives, it wouldn't have been heard.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

- negligence on the part of the engine driver to continue through the folks with any horns (the absence of it is very very disturbing)

I dont think the engine driver had any control of the situation. Even if he horned, he could not stop in time. It could also be possible that he was busy applying the brakes. Trains dont stop on a penny unlike cars.

As mentioned somewhere else in the news. If the authorities had informed the railways, the train could have reduced speed and exercised caution.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

- negligence on the part of the engine driver to continue through the folks with any horns (the absence of it is very very disturbing)

I could hear honking in the other videos.

IMO, the loco pilot must have thought that the people will get away from the tracks by the time the train reaches there. Everyday, they are used to seeing people and bikers crossing the track till the train reaches close to the gate.

[sparky@home]

When people are totally enthralled by the spectacle of bursting fire crackers, everything else is side lined. This has happened before in Kerala near Thrissur, when people who were watching a fire works show of a temple festival in the very early hours, sitting on the railway line, were run over in a similar manner by a speeding express train. These incidents are forgotten easily.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

It was negligence and our "chalta-hai" attitude -
- negligence on the part of the organizers to set it up next to a railway track without any announcement or safety measures
- negligence on the part of the people to stand on railway tracks with their eyes and mobiles on the ravan effigy with minimal focus on oncoming trains
- negligence on the part of the engine driver to continue through the folks with any horns (the absence of it is very very disturbing)

More than the organisers, isn't it the individual's responsibility? To be aware of the surroundings? But as usual, personal safety is a grossly neglected aspect in our daily lives

[Chetan_Rao]

The sheer obliviousness of the people closest to the track!

In the second video, most of them take a couple steps out of the train's path but continue to hold up their phones to the burning effigy.

'Let me just take this video for my FB, then wonder if a bunch of these people may be dead, then make another video of that too. Thousands of views and likes guaranteed!'.

[ninjatalli]

Well, my earlier post on the negligence of the railway engine driver kind of is secondary - the people had no reason to be standing on the tracks.

But here's another video link - there was another train that passed by at a much slower speed just a few seconds before the 2nd train rammed through the people.

NDTV video link

I guess the driver could have helped; but then this is arm-chair analysis. What exactly impacted the decision at that time, only the driver knows.

Originally Posted by ajmat

I dont think the engine driver had any control of the situation. ...
As mentioned somewhere else in the news. If the authorities had informed the railways, the train could have reduced speed and exercised caution.

[NiInJa]

In my opinion, people should have avoided standing on the tracks, train coming or not. My dad had studied about trains in his engineering days and few of his friends went on to become motor-man. In pitch black conditions it is very difficult to see objects until they are lit up by the powerful headlights, but the stopping distance is dependant on its speed which looking at the video seems pretty high.
The video of dash cam in a train will give a fair idea. There was no way the train was going to stop before running over the crowd.

https://youtu.be/JrQMWDgHIOg

The other option would been that authorities were informed about it and all trains were required to maintain a minimum speed in that section. (Not sure if that would be possible in India)

[tharian]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I guess the driver could have helped; but then this is arm-chair analysis. What exactly impacted the decision at that time, only the driver knows.

True, the pilot of the train that passed by first could have informed the pilot of the train that hit the people of the danger ahead. That is the reason pilots exchange flags when they cross. In this case, the walkie talkie could have been used to inform. But, the time would have been too short to slow down enough and like someone said, the headlights although looks powerful, doesn't have good illumination until the object reflects back some light.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by tharian

But, the time would have been too short to slow down enough ...

post but related to the Amritsar tragedy. I scouted for details and found something relevant on RDSO's website (http://rdso.indianrailways.gov.in/ )

Screenshot from the document -





I'm uploading that document here as it's available on internet. This document pertains to Electric locomotives and as one can see, emergency braking distance depends on many things like loco class, speed, load factor and gradient. So for that DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) , it wouldn't have been less than 700-800 meters. It is a tragedy that could've been easily avoided. And for the departed souls.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

I'm uploading that document here as it's available on internet. This document pertains to Electric locomotives and as one can see, emergency braking distance depends on many things like loco class, speed, load factor and gradient. So for that DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) , it wouldn't have been less than 700-800 meters. It is a tragedy that could've been easily avoided. And for the departed souls.

Yes, this was a light load too. Just a 4 coach DMU and their braking is quite good too since they are meant to approach their stops in good speeds and brake rapidly and then pick up speed quickly as well since they are commuter trains.
So I am guessing, it could have actually slowed down by the time it reached the spot. But, in the darkness it is quite difficult for the drivers to spot much of anything and DMUs have just one pilot. Normally on a express or other long distance trains, the assistant pilot is very vigilant on spotting obstacles.

[honeybee]

It is also possible the loco driver may have been distracted by the burning effigy.