A speeding train ran over a crowd watching fireworks during a religious festival in northern India, killing at least 50 people.
Pratap Singh Bajwa, a Congress Party leader, said the victims crowded the rail track on Friday on the outskirts of Amritsar, a city in Punjab state.
He said they did not see the train, which failed to stop after the accident.
Hundreds of people were busy watching the burning of an effigy of demon Ravana during the Hindu festival of Dussehra when the train struck, he said.
Following the accident, a large number of villagers rushed to the site and condemned railway authorities for not taking precautions in view of the festival.
While accidents are relatively common on India’s sprawling rail network, Friday’s was among India’s deadliest in recent years.
In 2016, 146 people were killed when a train slid off railway tracks in eastern India.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here