Bhagalpur, Aug. 21: Hundreds of devotees, who were on their way to Ashokdham halt in Lakhisarai, narrowly escaped death when a speeding Jan Shatabdi Express appeared on the tracks when they were waiting for a passenger train.

The driver of the 12024 Dn Patna-Howrah, however, applied emergency brakes to save the lives of the devotees the same day when the Rajya Rani Express mowed down 28 people at Dhamara Ghat in Khagaria. The railways has directed the station authorities concerned to take preventative measures to avoid any repetition of the Dhamara Ghat incident. Rabindra Gupta, the divisional railway manager of Mala under whose jurisdiction the loop section falls, said: “Our safety systems are in place. As a result, not a single untoward incident has occurred.”