At least 11 people have been killed and another five injured after rumours of a fire led people to jump off a train, only to be crushed to death by a different train.
The incident in the western Maharashtra state is the latest to hit India's creaking rail network, which carries millions of passengers each day and has seen several disasters over the years.
"People were run over by a train," said Ayush Prasad, a top official of Jalgaon district where the accident occurred about 400 kilometres from the country's financial hub of Mumbai.
It was not immediately clear whether the fire alarm was false.
A spokesperson for Indian Railways was quoted by local media as having said that someone had pulled the "alarm chain" on a Mumbai-bound train, following which "a few passengers got down from the train".
"At that moment, they were run over by another train going in the opposite direction," the spokesperson said.
India's Interior Minister Amit Shah expressed his "deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this accident".
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the "tragic incident" was "deeply disturbing".
"Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives," he said in a post on X.
India has launched a US$30 billion ($47.8 billion) railway infrastructure modernisation plan in a bid to boost the economy and connectivity.
But analysts say that while the number of incidents has gone down over time, India's antiquated rail system still has a long way to go.
An average of 20,000 people died each year between 2017 and 2021 in rail accidents, according to official records.
In 2023, nearly 300 people were killed when a passenger train and a stationary goods train collided, with the derailed compartments then striking another fast-moving passenger service.
AFP/ABC
