At least 25 people are feared to have been killed when a speeding Rajya Rani Express ran over them at a crowded station in Bihar's Khagaria district on Monday.
Angry local passengers pelted stones at the train and set it on fire.
"I cannot ascertain the number of dead bodies yet but we have information that the train was set on fire (after the accident)," Bihar ADG (law and order) SK Bhardwaj told ANI news.
As per Doordarshan report, at least 37 people, which include 30 women, four men, 3 children and 50 others were injured in the mishap.
The Rajya Rani Express was en route from Saharsa to Patna in the morning. The speeding train ran over people standing on the railway tracks at the Bhamara station, killing 35 of them.
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The victims were mostly devotees of Shiva (kanwarias). Upon realization, the engine driver stopped the train after a distance.
Angry passengers at the station resorted to stone pelting at the train and the engine driver for running the Rajya Rani express over kanwarias.
With the reports of the train being set on fire, the casualty figure is expected to rise.
Rescue operations have turned complicated as there are no proper roads leading to the station, Bhardwaj told the news agency.
Moreover, the railway ministry has suspended any sort of train services on the route due to the accident, officials told PTI.
In the wake of Monday's tragedy, the right wing political clan passed their condolences to the victims.
"News of train incident in Bihar is saddening. Condolences to the families of the deceased. Prayers with those affected," Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter.
Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad has called for the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar to come out with an immediate action plan.
"Unfortunate train accident in Khagaria district of Bihar. Both, government of India and of Bihar should extend all possible and help immediately," he said on the micro-blogging site.
Chairman of the Railway Board Arunendra Kumar assured that the foremost aim is to provide "medical aide to people immediately."
This is not the first time that angry crowds have set a train on fire in Bihar. In September last year, a bus and train collision in Siwan district killed nine students, who were seated in the college bus. Villagers in the district set ablaze all the bogies of the Howrah-Kathgodam Bagh Express that was en route to Delhi from Hajipur.
