Two women were killed and two injured seriously when the car by which they were travelling was hit by the Salem-Vriddhachalam passenger train (76850) at an unmanned level-crossing at Siruvattur near Chinna Salem on Friday.
The names of the victims were given as Chitra, 48, wife of Vetrivel, a health inspector of Cuddalore, and her relative Kavya, 21, of Villupuram. The police said Vetrivel, Chitra, Kavya and another relative Maheshwaran, 19, were returning in the car from Periya Siruvattur.
Driver did not see train
The police said the car driver apparently tried to cross the track and did not notice the train. While the two women died on the spot, Mr. Vetrivel and Mr. Maheshwaran are being treated at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Villupuram and Government General Hospital at Kallakurichi respectively.
Meanwhile, the Southern Railway has clarified that Gate Mitra had been appointed for all the unmanned level-crossings in Salem division to alert road users while crossing an unmanned level-crossing. According to a release, N. Arumugam, 37, Gate Mitra of level-crossing No. 101 had alerted the car driver about the train but the driver ignored him.
