The official said, “They had been walking along the rail tracks and slept there due to exhaustion. They were mowed down by a train”
MUMBAI| On Friday in the early hours 15 migrants labourers returning home were asleep on the railway track were run over by the goods train in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad. Amongst them, 14 died and one has sustained injuries.
The incident occurred at around 5:30 am on the Aurangabad-Jalna railway line. Officials talking to the news agency PTI said that the labourers were walking along the railway tracks fell asleep due to exhaustion. The official also added that they were mowed down by the train early in the morning.
The official told the news agency, “They had been walking along the rail tracks and slept there due to exhaustion. They were mowed down by a train”.
The Ministry of Railways has now put out a tweet and said that an inquiry has been ordered into the tragic incident.
Ministry of Railway through twitter said an inquiry has been ordered int the tragic incident.
During early hours today after seeing some labourers on track, loco pilot of goods train tried to stop the train but eventually hit them between Badnapur and Karmad stations in Parbhani-Manmad section
Injureds have been taken to Aurangabad Civil Hospital.
Inquiry has been ordered— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 8, 2020
The railway clarified that around 15 to 20 people were sleeping on the track when the incident occurred. While examining the scene area authorities added that the labourers who died were the natives of Umarya and Shahdol in Madya Pradesh and were working in SRG Company in Jalna.
Following the news, PM Modi also tweeted that he spoke to the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and asked him to monitor the situation. Modi also ensured that all possible assistance required is being provided.
Extremely anguished by the loss of lives due to the rail accident in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Have spoken to Railway Minister Shri Piyush Goyal and he is closely monitoring the situation. All possible assistance required is being provided.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 8, 2020
Defence minister Rajnath Singh also called the incident as the most “tragic and unfortunate”.
The Rail accident in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district is extremely tragic and unfortunate. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in this accident.I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 8, 2020
The train to release the stranded migrants to their respective states came when migrants across the nation started protesting and demanding to get back home. The development came after when migrants were forced to walk a long distance to their home states as they were unable to find transport.
While states have allowed special trains to transport migrant labourers, some are still finding it hard to sign up for the same.
Meanwhile, many other migrant labourers had already set out on foot before to reach their homes before the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) came out with the order allowing migrant labourers to return home.
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