An investigation has been launched in India after a driverless goods train traveled more than 43 miles (70 kilometers) at high speeds before stopping, reports said.
No one was injured and a potential major accident was averted after officials helped reduce the train's speed by placing logs on the track in front of it, officials said.
The 53-car train was on its way to Punjab, coming from Jammu in the northwest of the country India The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that the ship stopped on Sunday morning when it stopped in Kathua to change the crew.
When the driver and co-driver left the train, the handbrake was not applied, and the train ran away down the sloped track, according to NDTV.
It reached an estimated speed of about 62 mph (100 kph) as it moved through about five stops before coming to a stop.
Video clips circulated on social media showed the train, which was carrying stones, passing through several stations at high speed.
“The train was stopped after a railway official placed wooden blocks on the tracks to stop the train,” local officials told the Press Trust of India.
NDTV said the train stopped in the village of Uche Bassi.
“No injuries were reported in the accident,” NDTV said, citing officials.
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The Press Trust of India news agency, citing officials, reported that the incident occurred between 7.25 am and 9 am local time.
The railway crossings along its route were closed as a precaution as soon as the alert was raised.
The agency said officials are investigating what happened to ensure it does not happen again.
“The exact cause of the accident has not yet been ascertained,” NDTV said, citing officials.
in June, More than 280 people died In a train accident in Balasore district of Odisha near the Bay of Bengal.
India's worst railway accident occurred in 1981, when at least 800 people died after seven carriages of a packed passenger train derailed and fell into a river during a cyclone near the Nepal border.
The network, run by state-monopoly Indian Railways, is the fourth largest in the world and transports 13 million people daily, as well as moving 1.5 billion tons of freight annually along more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of track.
