Nearly 1,000 passengers of a Gwalior-bound train escaped unhurt when its engine derailed after hitting a tractor at an unmanned crossing.

The accident took place around 4.30 pm on Sunday when the train heading to Gwalior from Sheopur was crossing a bridge over a canal on Chambal River near Sheopur, about 600 km from here.
"A major mishap was averted and no casualty was reported from the site," Mahendra Singh Sikarwar, Sheopur district police superintendent told PTI over phone on Monday.

After hitting the tractor at an unmanned crossing, the engine got derailed and its coaches stopped right over the bridge triggering panic among passengers, he said. "There were about 1,000 passengers in the train and none of the passengers, who were stuck in the coaches just above the canal, jumped into the water out of panic," Sikarwar said.

Many of the panic-stricken passengers went on top of the coaches. But, all the passengers were safely rescued from the stranded coaches by late evening, he said. 

A total of seven coaches were stranded over the bridge, which is  about 80 feet in length and 15 feet in height. The canal, which was full of water, was about eight feet deep, sources said.