NEW DELHI: Indian Railways said on Monday it had ordered an investigation after a runaway freight train loaded with gravel travelled 70 kilometres (43 miles) without a driver.

Around 50 carriages set off solo, careering from the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, before being brought to a halt by wooden blocks placed onthetracksonSunday.

`We have ordered an inquiry,` Northern Railways spokesman Deepak Kumar said, adding that no one was hurtin theincident.

The train, running at 100 kilometres per hour, was captured in a video that went viral on social media.

The incident happened after the train stopped at a railway station in Jammu for a crew change, local media reports said. But it began moving down a slope after the driver and his assistant got off. All road crossings on the route were closed to prevent accidents.

The incident is the latest to hit India`s creaking rail network, which carries millions of passengers each day.

However, India has invested huge sums of money to upgrade the network with modern stations and electronic signalling systems.-AFP