NEW DELHI, Nov 2: A speeding express train rammed into a group of people in southern India on Saturday, killing at least eight after they leapt from another train following fears of a blaze, reports said.

Scores of people were also reportedly injured in the accident at Gotlam station in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The victims were crossing the tracks on foot after getting off another train in panic following rumours that a fire was racing through the carriages.

“The passengers of the Alleppey-Dhanbad Express train pulled the (emergency) chain and got down. The Raigarh-Vijaywada train running on the other line ran over them,” railway spokesman J.P. Mishra told an Indian television channel.

Most local media reports put the number of dead at eight, but the NDTV news network said as many as 10 people had been killed.

Local officials were not immediately available for comment.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy assured the injured would receive the best medical treatment, while offering his condolences.

India's dilapidated railway system has a notoriously bad record, with hundreds of accidents reported annually. NEW DELHI, Nov 2: A speeding express train rammed into a group of people in southern India on Saturday, killing at least eight after they leapt from another train following fears of a blaze, reports said.

Scores of people were also reportedly injured in the accident at Gotlam station in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The victims were crossing the tracks on foot after getting off another train in panic following rumours that a fire was racing through the carriages.

“The passengers of the Alleppey-Dhanbad Express train pulled the (emergency) chain and got down. The Raigarh-Vijaywada train running on the other line ran over them,” railway spokesman J.P. Mishra told an Indian television channel.

Most local media reports put the number of dead at eight, but the NDTV news network said as many as 10 people had been killed.

Local officials were not immediately available for comment.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy assured the injured would receive the best medical treatment, while offering his condolences.

India's dilapidated railway system has a notoriously bad record, with hundreds of accidents reported annually.

In 2012 a government report said that almost 15,000 people were killed every year on India's railways. It described the deaths as an annual “massacre” due to poor safety standards.—AFPNEW DELHI, Nov 2: A speeding express train rammed into a group of people in southern India on Saturday, killing at least eight after they leapt from another train following fears of a blaze, reports said.

Scores of people were also reportedly injured in the accident at Gotlam station in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The victims were crossing the tracks on foot after getting off another train in panic following rumours that a fire was racing through the carriages.

“The passengers of the Alleppey-Dhanbad Express train pulled the (emergency) chain and got down. The Raigarh-Vijaywada train running on the other line ran over them,” railway spokesman J.P. Mishra told an Indian television channel.

Most local media reports put the number of dead at eight, but the NDTV news network said as many as 10 people had been killed.

Local officials were not immediately available for comment.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy assured the injured would receive the best medical treatment, while offering his condolences.

India's dilapidated railway system has a notoriously bad record, with hundreds of accidents reported annually.

In 2012 a government report said that almost 15,000 people were killed every year on India's railways. It described the deaths as an annual “massacre” due to poor safety standards.—AFP In 2012 a government report said that almost 15,000 people were killed every year on India's railways. It described the deaths as an annual “massacre” due to poor safety standards.—AFP