Three youths were killed, and four others seriously injured in a freak railway accident near St. Thomas Mount station on Thursday morning. All seven were reportedly travelling on the footboard of a suburban fast service from Chengalpet to Chennai Beach when the accident occurred, between Pazhavanthangal and St. Thomas Mount stations.
A senior official of the Government Railway Police, which is investigating the case, said the fast service Electrical Multiple Unit was nearing the St. Thomas Mount station when the accident happened.
He said the while two youths were killed on the spot, the third died on the way to the hospital. Four persons have been admitted to the government hospital.
According to Railway Protection Force officials, the first to reach the site, the accident was caused when the backpack of one of the commuters on the footboard got entangled in an iron ladder fixed to a signal post beside the track. As a result he was thrown off the train. In the melee that followed, the others on the footboard also fell from the train.
The three victims have been identified as A. Praveenraj (19) and K. Manikandan (22) — both from Perungalathur, working as AC mechanics with a servicing firm in Kodambakkam — who were killed on the spot, and Jaysingh, who died on the way to the hospital.
The GRP official said that as the suburban train was a fast service and had no stops at Palavanthangal or St. Thomas Mount, the train was travelling at great speed.
