A woman who jumped in front of a train, a man who tried to rescue her and two passengers who were leaning out to watch the incident were killed in Barrackpore on Thursday morning.

The chain of mishaps occurred at rail gate No. 13 on Eastern Railway’s Sealdah division around 7am.

Sipra Pal, a resident of Talpukur, tried to commit suicide by throwing herself in front of a Sealdah-bound Barrackpore local as it approached the level crossing.

“The train was moving very fast. The woman jumped on the tracks when it was barely a few metres away. A man who was standing near the crossing also jumped on the tracks to save her,” said a government railway police (GRP) officer at Barrackpore.

The driver applied the brakes but both Sipra and the man were run over. They died on the spot, said police.

The man was identified as Rabindranath Pal. He lived nearby.

According to witnesses, three young passengers, one of whom was identified as Subhas Halder, were leaning out of the train to watch the incident. They smashed into concrete posts beside the tracks and fell off the train.

Halder died on the spot. Another youth has been admitted to BN Bose Hospital. Doctors said his condition was critical.

Railway authorities said they had not received any report in connection with the accident.

Local residents alleged that GRP officers were late in reaching the spot and taking the injured to hospital.

GRP officers denied the allegation.