(Observer News) A tragedy occurred in the central Indian city of Aurangabad. In the early morning of the 8th local time, a group of migrant workers who returned home on foot slept on the tracks because they were tired, and unfortunately they were crushed by the train, and at least 16 of them died.
Screenshot: "India Today" The same below
According to India Today, the incident occurred around 5:30 a.m. on Friday, between Kamad and Badnabour station on the section of the railway that connects Aurangabad to Jalna.
The Times of India quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the migrant workers worked in a large steel mill in Jalna. They departed thursday evening and planned to walk to the Aurangabad train station, 60 kilometres away, to take a special service back to their hometown in Madhya Pradesh. In order to avoid being caught by the police on the highway, they chose to travel along the tracks. At the time of the incident, it had been 35 kilometers.
One government official described the migrant workers as too tired to sleep on the tracks, estimated by India's Ministry of Railways to be about 15 to 20. Local police revealed that 4 people were unharmed because they were away from the tracks, speculating that they may have believed that all passenger trains had been suspended during the "lockdown order" of the epidemic. But it was run over by a freight train carrying gasoline.
The train driver stopped as hard as he could after visually sensing the crowd, but failed to stop the tragedy. The Ministry of Railways has begun an investigation into the accident.
Police rushed to the scene to rescue
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on social media that he was "extremely saddened", saying he had spoken to the minister of railways to ask for close attention to the situation and to ensure the necessary assistance was provided. The injured have been taken to a nearby hospital, with the media initially reporting 15 deaths and 5 injuries, while 1 injured person was subsequently declared dead.
On April 14, the Indian government announced the extension of the "lockdown order" in response to the COVID-19 epidemic, and a large number of migrant workers across the country were stranded across the country. More than 3,000 people gathered at Bandra railway station in Mumbai to demand that the government resume train operations and allow them to return home, but were driven away by the police. Unable to find transportation, many people are forced to choose to walk back to their hometowns.
Digvya Singh, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Secretary-General of the All India Congress Committee of the Indian Congress Party, requested that the incident be objectively investigated into whether the government was negligent. For example, whether Madhya Pradesh registers these migrant workers or arranges a return programme for them.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health of India, as of 8 o'clock local time on May 8, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in India was 56,342, and the cumulative number of deaths was 1,886. Compared with 24 hours ago, 3390 new cases were confirmed and 103 new deaths were confirmed.
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