An auto-rickshaw driver was killed when his vehicle came in front of a speeding train at Punnapra near the district headquarters here on Tuesday.
According to the police, Lawrence, alias Salby, 29, was on his way to pick up students from the St. Aloysius School near Punnapra at around 3.45 p.m. when he attempted to cross an unmanned level crossing at
Panachuvadu near Kappakada. He could not make it across faster than the approaching Kochuveli-Amritsar Express and was caught right in the middle of the track. The train dragged the rickshaw for around 100
metres before halting.
Though the police rushed Lawrence to a nearby hospital, he was declared dead on arrival. A Fire & Rescue unit from Alappuzha later removed the mangled remains of the rickshaw from the tracks. Rail traffic on the route was restored after around an hour.
Lawrence, who used to regularly pass the level crossing with school children, is survived by his mother Baby, wife Jasmine, and two daughters.
