At least 12 train passengers were killed on Wednesday after another service on an adjacent line derailed in western India after they panicked and jumped from their carriages to escape a spreading fire, the Press Trust of India reported.

At least six people were injured and taken to nearby hospitals, the news agency quoted police officer Dattatraya Karale as saying.

The crash happened near Pardhade railway station in Maharashtra state, 255 miles southwest of Mumbai, India's financial capital.

The victims were thrown from the Pushpak Express train which stopped after some passengers pulled the emergency chain.Those who got off were hit by another express train on the adjacent track, PTI said quoted railway spokesperson Swapnil Neela as saying.

“Our preliminary information is that there were sparks inside one of the coaches of Pushpak Express either due to 'hot axle' or 'braking' and some passengers panicked, they pulled the chain and some jumped down. on the tracks At the same time, the Karnataka Express was plying on the adjacent track,” said a senior railway official.

Despite government efforts to improve railway safety, hundreds of accidents occur every year Indian Railwayswhich is the largest train network under one management in the world.

In 2023, two passenger trains collided after derailment in eastern India, killing more than 280 people and injuring hundreds in one of the country's states. deadliest rail accidents over the decades.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focusing on modernizing India's British colonial-era railway network, which has become the most populated country in the world: 1.42 billion.