14 migrants returning home crushed to death as goods train runs over them in Maharashtra

In a heart-wrenching incident, at least 14 migrants, who were sleeping on the railway tracks while returning to their native places amid the Coronavirus-induced lockdown, were crushed to death after they were run over by a goods train between Maharashtra’s Jalna and Aurangabad, officials said on Friday.

At least 5 people have been injured in the accident. They have been shifted to Aurangabad civil hospital, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of South Central Railway (SCR) said.

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A senior railway official confirmed that the migrant labourers were run over by a freight train between Jalna and Aurangabad of Nanded Divison of South Central Railway.

The incident happened around 5.30 am, according to the official.

An official at the Karmad police station told PTI that the workers, who were walking to Bhusawal from Jalna, were returning to Madhya Pradesh.

The Ministry of Railways, in a statement, said that the loco pilot had tried to stop the train but eventually hit them between Badnapur and Karmad stations in Parbhani-Manmad section.

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan conveyed his condolences and spoke with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, seeking help for the families of the workers who died in the accident. Chouhan also announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for their families.

Amid the nationwide lockdown, thousands of daily wagers and other migrants undertook epic journeys to reach home — walking, cycling and hitching rides when they could — in the absence of any public transport, the outskirts of many cities like Delhi and Mumbai teemed with people.

The nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25, was first extended till April 14, then till May 3 and finally till May 17 with a few relaxations built in. The unprecedented move to stem the spread of COVID-19 triggered possibly the biggest movement of people since Partition.

Some made it, some are still on their way while some others just gave up on the way. There have been several reports of workers desperate to be with their families in the uncertain days of a pandemic but dying before they reached their destination.

The first reported casualty of this exodus was 39-year-old Ranveer Singh, who worked as a delivery boy for a restaurant in Delhi and died in Agra after walking for over 200 km to Morena in Madhya Pradesh.

According to a report by SaveLIFE Foundation, at least 42 migrants died in road accidents while attempting to return home during the Coronavirus lockdown.

The report details that about 140 lives were lost in over 600 road accidents over the course of the two phases of the nationwide lockdown between March 24 and May 3.

Of this count, 30 per cent of the victims were migrant workers returning to their homes, said the report by the non-profit organisation which underlined over-speeding on empty roads as one of the most common reasons for deaths across states.

Apart from 42 migrants, 17 essential workers also died in road accidents.