The incident occurred around 9 am, when the Sealdah-bound Krishnanagar local, SK 286 Dn, was passing. A spring on the fourth compartment had come off.

The stones hit the people mostly on their head and limbs.

Shikha Dey, a teacher in a Kanchrapara school, who was entering the platform from the opposite direction, escaped unhurt.

“I saw the stones fly upwards and hit people on the platform as the train entered. For the next few minutes, there was chaos, with people running helter skelter for cover,” she said.

Subir Roychoudhury (40), Jayanti Roy (42), Shankar Sen (34), Gopal Chandra Saha (45), Swathi Mondol (45), Kajal Pal (42), Haradhan Dolui (20) and Ratan Ghosh (45) had to be taken to the neighbouring Sagar Dutta Hospital for treatment.

The train stopped at Dum Dum Junction around 9.15 am. The incident caused a minor delay, affecting suburban train services to Sealdah.