Pilgrims
batter to death train driver who ploughed speeding train into 37 worshippers and injuring another 40 as
they crossed tracks at packed station after morning prayer
A
mob infuriated by the deaths beat the driver severely and set fire to coaches,
officials said.
Several
hours after the accident, flames and dark smoke could be seen billowing out of
the train coaches, as protesters blocked firefighters from the station in
Dhamara Ghat, a small town in Bihar state, officials said.
Railway
official Arunendra Kumar said the train was not supposed to halt at Dhamara
Ghat and had been given clearance to pass through the station.
Passenger
Kumar Ashutosh, who was in the first coach next to the engine, said: 'The
driver did not slow down when the train approached the station. He maintained
the high speed at which the train was moving, so it was difficult for him to
stop when he realized that there were people on the track.'
However,
some pilgrims waited on the tracks thinking they could stop the train, he said.
The
train stopped a few hundred meters beyond the spot where it hit the pilgrims.
Angry mobs then pulled out the train driver and beat him.
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