Maharashtra: 16 migrant workers crushed to death by goods train
Aurangabad: Sixteen migrant workers sleeping on rail tracks while returning to Madhya Pradesh were crushed to death by a goods train in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra on Friday, police said.
Four other migrant workers survived in the accident which took place at 5.15 am near Karmad, around 30 km from Aurangabad, police said.
A video clip from the scene of the tragedy shows the bodies of migrant workers lying on the tracks and nearby with their meagre personal belongings scattered around.
District police chief Mokshada Patil told PTI that the survivors had tried in vain to wake up their colleagues who had slept on the track after a overnight walk from Jalna, around 40 km from the accident spot.
The workers, who were walking to Bhusawal from Jalna along rail tracks, were returning to their home state Madhya Pradesh, an official at the Karmad police station told PTI.
They were sleeping on rail tracks due to exhaustion when they were run over by the goods train coming from Jalna, he said.
"The labourers, working in a steel factory in Jalna, left for their home state on foot last night. They came till Karmad and slept off on the tracks as they were tired," police officer Santosh Khetmalas said.
Three of the four were sleeping some distance away from the rail tracks, police said.
The migrant workers, rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown and desperate to go to their native places, were walking along the rail tracks apparently to escape police attention.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the death of 14 migrant workers in the train accident. He said all possible assistance is being provided.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments announced financial aid of Rs 10 lakh - Rs 5 lakh each - to families of the deceased.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over the death of migrant workers and announced a financial aid of Rs 5 lakh each to their families.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan condoled the death of the migrant workers from his state and announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to their families.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar termed the death of the migrant workers as heart-wrenching and said the Centre must work closely in unison with state governments to ensure labourers reach their homes safely.
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Body of Bihar Police personnel found hanging in barracks in Patna
Patna (PTI): The body of a Bihar Police personnel was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in his barracks here, a senior officer said on Sunday.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Kartikeya Sharma said a havildar with Bihar State Armed Police-1, popularly known as "Gorkha battalion", died allegedly by suicide as he had been suffering from some ailment.
The deceased left behind "two suicide notes", one in Hindi and the other in his native language Nepali.
"From the suicide notes, it appears that Navraj Sunar, the deceased havildar, had been suffering from some ailment which had caused him much mental anguish and may have driven him to take the extreme step," the SSP said.
The body was being sent to the native village of the deceased in Nepal after a post-mortem examination, while further investigations were on, with forensic experts inspecting the site of the incident.
