Jalgaon: At least 10 train passengers were killed after stepping down due to a rumour of fire and being run over by another train passing on the adjacent tracks in North Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Wednesday evening, officials said.

While Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan said 10-12 persons were killed as per the district collector, Union minister Raksha Khadse, who hails from the district, said the death toll could be as high as 40 according to her information.

The accident took place between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora, more than 400 km from Mumbai, where the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express had halted after someone pulled the chain due to a rumour of fire around 5 pm, Central Railway officials said, without confirming the death toll.

Some passengers of Pushpak Express stepped down, and were hit by the oncoming Karnataka Express heading from Bengaluru to Delhi, said Central Railway’s chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila.

Visuals from the accident spot showed a few bodies and severed body parts.

“Our preliminary information is that there were sparks and smoke inside one of the general coaches of Pushpak Express due to either `hot axle’ or `brake-binding’ (jamming), and some passengers panicked. They pulled the chain, and some of them jumped down. At the same time, Karnataka Express was passing,” a senior railway official told PTI.

“Senior officials are reaching the spot, after which more information will be available,” said Maharashtra minister Gulabrao Patil who is also the guardian minister of Jalgaon.

An Accident Relief Train has been dispatched to the spot from Bhusaval, and Central Railway is making all efforts to provide medical aid to the injured passengers, an official statement said.

Government and private hospitals in the area have been instructed to be ready to treat injured passengers, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on X.