At least 16 migrant labourers, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, who were sleeping on rail tracks were crushed to death after a freight train ran over them on a track between Jalna and Aurangabad districts, nearly 260 km from Pune.

According to local police authorities, one other was seriously injured while three more escaped in the gruesome accident, which occurred under the jurisdiction of Karmad police station in Aurangabad.

“At around 5:15 a.m., a freight train ran over some labourers in a rail track near Karmad, killing 16 of them. One of them is injured and we are councilling three others who fortunately escaped the tragedy to understand what exactly transpired,” said Mokshada Patil, Superintendent of Police (Aurangabad Rural).

Disturbing scenes were witnessed in Karmad as police authorities and rescue teams were seen collecting parts of the mutilated bodies of the deceased labourers, which lay strewn along the bloodied railway tracks.

The migrants aged between 20 and 35 years, were labourers from Umarya and Shahdol (in Madhya Pradesh) and worked at SRG Company in Jalna, Maharashtra.

“During early hours today after seeing some labourers on track, loco pilot of goods train tried to stop the train but eventually hit them between Badnapur and Karmad stations in Parbhani-Manmad section. The injured have been taken to Aurangabad Civil Hospital. [An] Inquiry has been ordered,” read a tweet from the official handle of the Ministry of Railways.

According to the survivors, the Railways said, they had left Jalna at around 7 in the evening and walked on road initially up to Badnapore and later started walking on the tracks towards Aurangabad. After walking for about 36 km, they sat on the tracks to rest and gradually slept.

“The freight train had empty petroleum containers and it was on its way to Panewadi in Manmad. After the incident the train was halted at the next station,” Chief Public Relations Officer, South Central Railways, said.