Express train runs over three workers from Salem, fourth jumps into river to escape but drowns

CHENNAI: Three sanitary workers from Salem were killed and one person remains missing after they were hit by Kerala Express while cleaning the tracks at the Shoranur railway bridge across the Bharathapuzha river in north Kerala on Saturday.

The local media identified the deceased as Lakshmanan, Rani and Valli, and the missing person as Lakshmanan.

While the Southern Railway termed the incident unfortunate, local people and onlookers said the horrific accident exposed poor safety standards at workplace.

According to local media reports, the death toll would have been higher if another half a dozen temporary workers, pressed for cleaning works by a railway contractor, had not taken cover in the railway bridge cabin, where workers usually take cover from passing trains. The deceased workers, contracted by the Railways for sanitation work, were thrown off the track in the impact.

“While three bodies were retrieved from the area, efforts by the fire and rescue to locate the fourth missing person had to be called off due to poor light and spate in the Bharathapuzha river,” a Southern railway official told DT Next.

“Train 12626 Kerala Express, scheduled between Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram, struck the workers around 3.05 pm when they were clearing garbage from the track near Shoranur bridge, a few kilometers from the railway station,” said a communique from the Southern Railway.

“The train’s loco pilot informed the Shoranur cabin station master about two individuals involved in a run over on the bridge. Three deceased were found -- one man from the bridge and two women beneath it. According to sources, a fourth individual may have been involved and is suspected to have jumped into the river,” the Southern railway release added.

A railway official attached to the Palakkad division told DT Next that a total of 10 workers were clearing the garbage. After a green signal was given for the train to arrive at the station, six workers moved to the bridge cabin for safety, but four got trapped. The bodies were sent to Palakkad general hospital for postmortem, the official added. An ex-gratia of Rs 100,000 will be disbursed to the deceased workers

“The train was turning a curve so they could not move though we tried to alert; the emergency brake didn’t help as the train was very close to them,” the loco pilot told reporters.