Rail traffic resumed on early Sunday on the busy Mumbai-Howrah route in Chhattisgarh, nearly 10 hours after a speeding train mowed down 12 people at a manned railway crossing.
The incident occurred around 7 p.m. on Saturday at Tarbahar railway crossing on the outskirts of Bilaspur town.
"There was a huge protest by locals after the tragic incident. It went on till late night as they set 10 vehicles of railway officials and district authorities on fire.
"They even torched a train and several trains got stuck between Raipur and Raigarh but the traffic resumed today," a South East Central Railway spokesperson informed.
People tried to cross the rail tracks soon after a train left and "failed to spot the Bilaspur-Raipur local on the other track," Inspector General (Railways) Rajkumar Devangan told the media.
"Three trains reached the crossing simultaneously on three different tracks at the crossing and people who were trying to cross over the tracks were caught between speeding trains," said Superintendent of Police, Bilaspur, Ajay Yadav.
A huge contingent of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was deployed to deal with any situation, Devangan said.
One protestor was shot at Saturday night by the RPF men when they fired in the air to disperse the angry mob.
Most of the injured have lost either their legs or hands.