NEW DELHI, February 27 (RIA Novosti) - At least 16 people, including a child, have died in western India after a high-speed train ran over them as they were walking along railway tracks, national television reports said on Thursday.
The accident occurred about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the city of Surat in the Gujarat state, a major diamond production center, late on Wednesday. The dead bodies were spotted by another train driver the same day. Luggage was scattered around the scene.
The victims are believed to have been migrant laborers from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, who were walking to Surat in search of work.
"They disembarked from the train from Manikpur and were walking to Surat, when a train ran over them," a railroad official said on television.
The victims are believed to have climbed the tracks to cross a dike. Police are continuing their investigations.
