Paperwork holds up removal of body from tracks

The 55-year-old man had been run over near Chromepet railway station; body lay at the spot for nearly two hours

August 28, 2013 07:00 am | Updated 09:37 am IST - CHENNAI:

The body of a 55-year-old man, who was run over by a train, remained at the accident spot near Chromepet railway station for more than two hours on Tuesday due to rules that mandate an official note before a body can be removed. Ramasamy of Salem was knocked down by a suburban train around 8 a.m. while he was crossing the track between Tambaram Sanatorium and Chromepet railway stations. He died on the spot.

Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel in Tambaram received information about the accident from those who had gathered at the spot. However, in the absence of an official note or information over phone or wireless from staff of the southern railway in Chromepet, the GRP personnel were unable to remove the body.

As per rules, railway policemen can remove the body of an accident victim from the spot only after an official communication from the station manager of the nearest railway station.

On Tuesday morning, it was only after 10 a.m. that the southern railway staff formally sent word about the body to the police.

Following this, the body was removed to Tambaram Taluk Government Hospital in Chromepet for post-mortem examination.

There have been many instances of bodies lying in the vicinity of railways lines for hours due to these rules, said railway policemen.

Student knocked down

In another accident on Monday evening, Vigneswar (19) a second-year commerce student at a city college was knocked down by a train near Pallavaram railway station.

A resident of Eachankadu, Kovilambakkam, he was crossing the railway line to reach the station, when the accident took place.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.