At least 50 people die after train runs over crowd in India

A speeding train ran over a crowd watching fireworks during a religious festival in northern India on Friday, killing at least 50 people, a Congress party leader said.

Pratap Singh Bajwa said the victims crowded the rail track on the outskirts of Amritsar, a city in Punjab state. He said they didn't see the train, which failed to stop after the accident.

Hundreds of people were busy watching the burning of an effigy of demon Ravana during the Hindu festival of Dussehra when the train struck, he said.

Following the accident, a large number of villagers rushed to the site and condemned railroad authorities for not taking precautions in view of the festival.

While accidents are relatively common on India's sprawling rail network, Friday's was among India's deadliest in recent years.

In 2016, 146 people were killed when a train slid off railroad tracks in eastern India.