Railways continue to kill people on tracks for lack of crowd management at stations, while unmanned level crossing remaining a cause of concern. The Monday mishap in Khagaria district in Bihar where about 37 pilgrims were crushed after they unsuccessfully tried to stop a speeding express trains is another addition into growing list of such accidents in which a large number of people have lost their lives.
During Kumbh Mela this year in February, 36 people were crushed to death following a stampede at Allahabad railway station. The mishap had taken place after a last minute announcement of change of platform for the arrival of a train for which a large number of devotes had gathered. The mishap was also blamed on a footbridge collapse at the Allahabad station.
Also, fiver people were run over by a speeding train in Howrah in West Bengal in March last year when they were trying to cross the tracks.
The mishap had taken place at the Santragachi railway station in Howrah in which all the five people died on the spot.
Further, 15 people were killed after a train rammed into a van at an unmanned level crossing last year in March near Mendu station in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh.
The mishap had reportedly taken place as the driver of the ill-fated van tried to cross the track even through he had seen an approaching train.
In July, 2011, 38 people were killed again in UP when a train rammed into a bus at an unmanned level crossing in Patiyali area of Kanshiram Nagar district. The bus was carrying a marriage party and the deceased had included nine children also. The driver of the bus was reportedly drunk and had ignored the pleas of passengers to wait to let an approaching train first pass. In January 2011, one person was killed after a speeding train rammed into a truck in Jaunpur district in UP. In this case, the train driver had reportedly missed the red signal and had kept the train going at a high speed.