Police struggle to identify badly dismembered victims of India train crash

At least 59 people were killed as they watched a fireworks display at a major Hindu festival in the northern city of Amritsar.

An effigy of the demon king Ravana was set alight at the Dusshera festival

Police have warned it could take several days to identify all of those killed when a train ploughed into a crowd watching a fireworks display in India.

At least 59 people are known to have died, but the names of dozens of victims are still unknown because their bodies were badly dismembered in the tragedy.

Fifty others were injured, some of them seriously, and are being treated in hospital following Friday's crash in Amritstar - one of the deadliest accidents on India's railways in recent years.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed - with some forced to leave bodies outside after morgues ran out of space.

A large crowd had formed on the tracks to watch the burning of a firework-packed effigy as part of Dusshera, a Hindu festival.

Police said victims did not hear the Jalandhar-Amristar express arriving because the noise was drowned out by firecrackers.

Witnesses, some of whom have been scouring bloodied fields for the belongings of their loved ones, claimed there was no warning from the train as it rolled down the tracks.

Deep Kumari, who watched the festival from the terrace of her house, said: "I've been seeing this event every Dusshera from here and this has never happened before, the railways should have stopped or slowed down the train.

"Everyone here knows this effigy burning happens here and there is a big crowd."

Locals and relatives have returned to the tracks on Saturday

Details have started to emerge about what happened in the run-up to the disaster - with official claiming that another train had narrowly missed the crowd two minutes earlier.

A news agency reported that two trains then arrived from opposite directions on separate tracks at the same time, giving little opportunity for people to escape.

Local politicians said railroad authorities are alerted to run their trains at slow speeds every year when the festivities take place - but the junior minister in charge of running the sprawling network said they should not be held responsible.

Manoj Sinha added: "Railways cannot be blamed, railways were not informed about the ceremony. Why was it organised there? There was no notice given to the railways."

However, the disaster has led to fresh demands for safety reforms on the accident-plagued system. In July, it was revealed that 49,790 people were killed by trains on the tracks in India between 2015 and 2017.

Witnesses also said that Friday's ceremony was delayed by a few hours because the chief guest was running late, which meant the event ultimately coincided with the train's scheduled arrival.

Anger has turned on Navjyot Kaur Sidhu, a former Punjab state politician, who came late for the burning of the effigies and then left just before the accident occurred.

Bikram Singh Majitha, a leader of the regional Akali Dal party, said the effigy burning usually happens at sunset, not later.