AT LEAST 50 people were killed on Friday after a train ploughed into revellers gathered to watch a Hindu festival in India’s northern Amritsar city, police said.

The train hit a crowd standing on the railway line to watch a fireworks show during Dussehra celebrations, police and eyewitnesses said.

“There was a lot of noise as firecrackers were being let off and it appears they were unable to hear the approaching train,” a police official at the scene told AFP.

An eyewitness told a local TV channel there was “utter commotion” when the crowds noticed the train “coming very fast” towards them.

“Everyone was running helter-skelter and suddenly another train crashed into the crowds of people,” he said.

“There are more than 50 casualties. The priority now is to take the injured to the hospital,” Amritsar city police commissioner S. S. Srivastava told reporters.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered an inquiry into the latest disaster.

He said relief and rescue operations were ongoing at the site on a “war footing.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on Twitter and said he was working with officials to provide the required assistance to victims.

Witness Pratap Singh Bajwa said the victims didn’t see the train, which failed to stop after the accident.

Hundreds of people were busy watching the burning of an effigy of demon Ravana during the Hindu festival of Dussehra when the train struck, he said.

Following the accident, a large number of villagers rushed to the site and condemned railroad authorities for not taking precautions in view of the festival.

While accidents are relatively common on India’s sprawling rail network, Friday’s was among India’s deadliest in recent years.

In 2016, 146 people were killed when a train slid off railroad tracks in eastern India.

India is home to hundreds of railway crossings that are unmanned and particularly accident prone, with motorists often ignoring oncoming train warnings.

Nearly 15,000 people die on the country’s railways every year, according to a 2012 government report.