RUNAWAY TRAIN ON THE LOOSE IN INDIA

A freight train in northern India turned into a runaway train travelling at speeds of 74 km/h.

It’s believed the locomotive pilot and the assistant pilot got off the train for unknown reasons. When they turned around, the train had started moving and they were unable to get back on.

The train managed to roll for about 1.5 hours after it started rolling from Kathua railway station. The station is located in the state of Jammu. It was eventually stopped in Hoshiarpur district in the state of Punjab. This was confirmed by Prateek Srivastava, the director for the Ministry of Railways in Jammu and Kashmir.

A video of the train speeding past other stations quickly went viral and caught the attention of local media.

CNN reports that no one was injured by the runaway train and it was eventually stopped using emergency brakes and by placing stones on the track, preventing a major accident.

Gravity assisted when the path the train was diverted onto had an uphill gradient. “We knew gravity would help us,” said Srivastava.

Image credit: ITVX