A 35-year-old man and his two-year-old nephew, whom he was carrying on his shoulders, died on the spot when they were hit by a suburban electric train near Kattankulathur on Thursday evening.
Railway Police sources in Tambaram said the victim, K. Elumalai, was from Wandavasi in Tiruvannamalai district. A daily wage earner, he lived with his brother and family on the margins of Grand Southern Trunk Road near Kattankulathur.
Elumalai was crossing the railway track between Potheri and Kattankulathur railway stations and was carrying his nephew Akash, on his shoulders. A train on its way to Tirumalpur from Chennai Beach, was approaching Kattankulathur railway station, when it hit Elumalai and the young boy, killing them both instantly.
Their bodies were taken to the Tambaram Taluk Government Hospital for post-mortem examinations.
