An express train in India ran over several passengers of another train on Saturday after they jumped off because they thought there was a fire on board.
The accident occurred at Gotlam near Vizianagaram when some of the passengers riding the Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express train pulled the stop chain because there rumors that a fire had broken out aboard the locomotive, reports India Today. Several of the passengers then jumped from the train after it stopped.
The victims were crossing the train tracks to get away from the train, not noticing that there was another train heading their way because it was so dark out. The train that was travelling in the opposite direction on the adjacent tracks reportedly hit several of them and ran them over.
At least eight people were killed in the accident. Other news stations in India are reportedly saying that over ten were killed by the oncoming train.
There were reports of bodies on the train tracks with limbs severed, according to the Hindustan Times. Seven of the dead have already been identified.
Out of all the dead, two of them are children, ages two and 10 years old. The two were children of Shweta Singh, who was also killed by the oncoming train.
An unidentified number of people were also injured when the train hit them, and were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.