Four passengers, including a child, who jumped off their train following a rumour of fire, were run over by another train in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday (June 14, 2026), officials said.

According to officials of the North Central Railway, the incident took place around 4.15 p.m. between the Hetampur and Dholpur sections of Jhansi railway division after a passenger in a general coach pulled the alarm chain of the Khajuraho-Udaipur Intercity Express.

The deceased included three women and a child who were identified as Virma Devi, 60, a resident of Bikaner district in Rajasthan; Shakuntala Devi, 60, Afreen, 35, and her four-year-old son Asad Khan, all residents of Agra district in Uttar Pradesh.

“According to preliminary information, while the train was stopped, some passengers alighted and moved onto the adjacent railway track,” North Central Railway in a statement, adding that some passengers who were on the nearby track were hit by Firozpur-Seoni Patalkot Express.

“Upon receiving information about the incident, officials from the Railway Administration, Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), and local administration immediately rushed to the site. Necessary assistance was provided to the affected passengers,” the statement said.

The Railway said that an investigation has been launched to ascertain the causes and circumstances of the incident.

“The aforementioned tragic incident occurred after the train was stopped by pulling the alarm chain; the individuals disembarked and attempted to stand on or cross the tracks at an unsafe location. The reason for pulling the alarm chain has not yet been ascertained. A committee comprising JAG-level officers has been constituted to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter,” Manoj Kumar Singh, PRO, Jhansi division, said, while urging railway passengers to not get off a moving or a stationary train midway.

Nadeem Khan, Afreen’s husband, said that he and his family jumped off the train after some people started a rumour of fire in the train.

“Someone started the rumour that fire erupted in the train, so the train was suddenly stopped. People started jumping off the train, so we also jumped. But, my elder child got left behind in the train, so I went to check on him while my wife and younger son were outside. That was when another train approached and my wife and son were run over by it,” he told a news agency.