At least 11 people have been killed and five injured after they fled murmurings of a fireplace on board their station in India, only to be hit by another coach.
Railway authorities said the passengers got down from the Mumbai-bound station in northern Maharashtra state after one pulled the emergency cable, causing it to quit.
They were hit by a coach on an opposite record. It was not immediately apparent whether there had really been a fire.
India has launched a $30m (£24bn) 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 which left nearly 300 people dead.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a blog on X that he was “deeply saddened by the dreadful loss of life” during the event near Pachora in Jalgaon region, about 400km from Mumbai, India’s economic capital.
He said eight vehicles had been dispatched and institutions were on standby.
The fall will be seen as a loss for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has called for reform of the railroads to boost the economy and communication.
There are plans to increase spending on the project in next week’s funds, Reuters news company reports.