In a gruesome incident, four workers from Odisha were run over by an EMU (electric multiple unit) train near Nungambakkam Railway Station on Wednesday as they were walking on the track.
The incident took place at around 3 p.m. Three of them were crushed to death instantly, while one succumbed to his injuries at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Police said that three of the victims’ bags contained only old clothes. However, on searching the fourth man’s bag, police found a voter’s ID card which enabled them to identify him as Prasanta Garada (27), from Koraput district of Odisha.
The identities of the other three are yet to be established.
K. Ashok Kumar, assistant sub-inspector, Railway Protection Force, said following an alert from the train guard, they rushed to the spot and found the bodies on the track and only one of them was still battling for his life.
He was immediately put on the train and sent to Park Station, closest to the government hospital. However, he also died at the hospital, police said.
According to police, the EMU train no 40082 (Tambaram to Beach) was coming from Nungambakkam Railway Station. The four victims were aged between 25 and 30, police said, adding that they had not noticed the train approaching from the rear and were walking on the track near Pachiyappa’s College towards Chetpet.
Although the engine driver honked when he saw them, they reportedly kept walking along the track.
Following the train guard’s alert and the Railway Protection Force personnel and Railway Police’s arrival on the spot, their bodies were sent for post-mortem.
K. Saravana Kumaran, inspector, Railway Police, Egmore, said: “We are conducting an investigation to ascertain their identities. Our preliminary investigation revealed that they might have all come to the city for construction work.”
As per Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code which deals with unnatural death, the police investigated the case and intimated the nearest Executive Magistrate empowered to hold inquests.
