15 students crushed to death by speeding Indian train

The students were sitting on a railway track in the Sukhi Sevania station, about 30km from Madhya Pradesh's state capital Bhopal, when they were knocked down by a speeding engine, said the official.

"They got off their own train at the Sukhi Sevania station and were squatting on the adjacent tracks, waiting to board their train again, when a speeding engine came and hit them," said Sanjay Shukla, the local district administrator.

"At least 15 people have died in the accident," he said, adding that most of the victims were aged between 17 to 20.

Hundreds of relatives later Sunday crowded the state-run Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal where the bodies were taken for identification.

An AFP photographer said chaotic scenes were witnessed at the hospital, where relatives broke down when they saw the badly broken and mangled bodies.