Just three days after six gangmen and six others were run over by trains in two different incidents at Pataudi and Ballabhgarh, four gangmen and a section engineer were run over by the Dehradun-New Delhi Jan Shatabdi on Saturday morning at Ghaziabad.

Section engineer Ramesh Kumar and the four gangmen, Ram Ratan, Puran, Ajay and Radheshyam were working on the tracks between Ghaziabad and Sahibabad stations when around 11.15 am the New Delhi-bound Jan Shatabdi, ignoring the flag indicating men at work, ran over the them.

“As they were working between two tracks and another train, Ala Hazrat Express, was coming from one side, which workers noticed, they could not see the Shatabdi coming from the other side. The Jan Shatabdi ran into them from their rear killing them on the spot,” said a railway worker present at the spot.

Following the incident, Railway employees sat on the tracks in protest. Four goods trains and the Amritsar Express were held up due to the blockade.

While Northern Railways officials maintained the accident was caused due to poor visibility, an officer-level inquiry has been instituted to probe the incident. The driver is being questioned by railway officials.

Northern Railways officials said the initial compensation of Rs 15,000 for the last rites has been given to the bereaved families. The rest of the compensation will be given to them according to the service rules, a Northern Railways spokesperson said.