Bhubaneswar, Oct. 1: A 50-year-old woman and her 15-month-old granddaughter were killed after being run over by a train in an accident at Patia passenger halt this morning.

The victims were identified as Asanti Das and her granddaughter Ridhi Patnaik. Witnesses said the woman was holding the toddler while crossing the line when they were hit by the Guwahati-Bangalore Express.

The incident took place around 9.20am when the family of six, including the child, from Dhenkanal were waiting at the passenger halt for a Puri-bound train. They were on their way to the Jagannath temple for darshan.

'We tried to alert the woman after seeing the train approach them. However, she was unaware of the train coming towards her. The infant was thrown to a distance following impact, while the train dragged the woman along for around 20 metres. Both of them died on spot,' said a witness.

Inspector in-charge of Government Railway Police, Bhubaneswar, Soubhagya Kumar Swain said the family had bought tickets to Puri.

'Four of the family members had already crossed the line. However, the sari of the woman holding the child got entangled between the train wheels and the track, leading to the mishap. Both the bodies have been handed over to the family members after a post-mortem,' said Swain.

Railway officials said the incident could have been averted had the deceased taken the foot over bridge, which was a few metres away from the accident spot.

'The family members decided to cross the line instead of opting for the over bridge to save time, but it proved to be fatal. We have been advising passengers not to cross the railway track and to use the bridge,' said a railway official.

The family members were left heartbroken after the mishap. 'My daughter was going to Puri for the first time for a darshan of lord Jagannath. But fate did not allow her,' said the mother.