Bahraich: A major tragedy was averted with hundreds of passengers having a close shave after two trains escaped a head-on collision in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich on Saturday, officials said. It is learnt that train numbered 05360 left Risia railway station on way towards Bahraich at 8:24 am on track number three. However, owing to a technical snag, another train 05361 simultaneously left Bahraich towards Risia station on the same track number three, an official said.
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The down loco pilot of train numbered 05360, seeing the up train approaching from the opposite direction on the same track, switched on the engine light and showed it flag to alert the pilot of the other train. The loco pilot of the train coming from the opposite side immediately stopped the train thereby averting a major tragedy. As soon as the two trains halted unexpectedly, there was chaos and panic among the passengers, who started jumping out of the coaches.
A crowd of local people also gathered at the station adding to the chaos. The two trains were halted at the spot for around two hours before the loco pilot of the up train backed the other train and brought it back to track number 1. Station Superintendent Risia Harishchandra Sharma said that the incident was caused due to a human error by pointman Pawan Kumar Rawat.
