The railway accident that killed 13 persons in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Wednesday was caused by a rumour about a fire in a train coach spread by a tea-seller, said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, reported PTI.

On Wednesday, 13 passengers of the Pushpak Express were killed and 10 others were injured after being hit by the oncoming Karnataka Express. The passengers had jumped onto the tracks near Pachora Railway Station and were hit by an oncoming train.

“A tea-seller from the pantry shouted about a fire having broken out in a coach,” Pawar told reporters in Pune on Thursday. Two passengers who first heard the rumour conveyed it to the others, leading to panic. A passenger pulled the chain to halt the train.

“Some of the scared passengers jumped off the train from both the sides to save themselves,” said Pawar.

Nine of the passengers who died were men while four were women, reported The Hindu. So far, 11 of them have been identified.

Quoting railway officials, the newspaper reported that although the loco pilots of both trains followed protocols, a curvature in the railway track obstructed visibility for the oncoming Karnataka Express.

“The driver of Karnataka Express noticed the flashlight and applied brakes,” Swapnil Nila, the railways’ central public relations officer, told The Hindu. “There was a curvature of almost two degrees which obstructed the visibility and even people could not see the train coming.”

Nila added: “Pilots tried their best to avoid the incident. If brake were not applied a lot of people would have died.”

He stated that a train travelling at full speed requires a minimum space of 650 metres to stop after applying the brakes.

On Wednesday night, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed his condolences and announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those who died.

“The state government will also bear the entire [medical] expenses of the injured,” said the chief minister.