A youngster had a tragic end at the first platform of the Ernakulam Junction railway station when he was crushed between the coach and the platform after falling down while trying to make a last-gasp attempt to board a moving train around 1.15 a.m. on Thursday.
The deceased was identified as Vishnu, 24, of West Kallada in Kollam district. The accident took place when he attempted to board the Nizamuddin-Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express, which was already on the move.
The victim, attached to the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), an arms and service branch of the Army in Ranchi, had come home earlier this month to attend a relative’s marriage.
He was on his way back to the workplace when tragedy struck. “He had boarded the Vanchinad Express from Sasthamkotta on Wednesday evening and was supposed to take a weekly express to Ranchi from Ernakulam. Instead, we received a message from the police about his death around 2.15 a.m,” said a relative of the victim.
The Vanchinad Express had reached Ernakulam Junction station by 9.45 p.m. It is assumed that Vishnu had dozed off at the platform and when he suddenly woke up and found the Rajdhani Express leaving the platform, he tried to board it, mistaking it for his train when in reality it was headed in the opposite direction.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials, however, said there was no train in the direction of his destination around the time of the accident. “While we have CCTV footage of him trying to board the moving train and falling off, we cannot confirm whether he was already at the station and had slept off or whether he had come late and straightaway tried to board the moving train,” RPF sources said.
The guard on duty got the train to stop after he saw the person stuck between the moving train and the platform. Though he was rushed to a nearby hospital, he was declared brought dead.
The train was detained at the station for 12 minutes following the incident.
