[Aditya]

Sixteen people were killed after being run over by an empty goods train about 25 km from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, while one was left with injuries.



The victims were a part of a group of twenty migrant workers from steel factories in Jalna who were making their way back to their homes in Madhya Pradesh. The lockdown enforced due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in India resulted in the factories being shut. The people, who were working as contract labourers, decided to leave for Bhusaval (Maharashtra) where they believed they could get a train to their villages.

The group covered about 40 km. They reached a place called Badnapur, where they spotted railway tracks. It was around 3.30 am and since the group was confident that no trains were running due to the lockdown, they decided to sleep on the tracks. However, there was as goods train on its way from Cheralapally in Hyderabad (Telangana) to Paniwada in Manmad (Maharashtra) which was using the same track that the workers were sleeping on. The train was reported to be travelling at a speed of 70 km/h and despite the brakes being applied, the men were run over.



While fourteen men died on the spot, two more died of their injuries in hospital. The Karmad police station has registered a report of an accidental death.

Source

[Dry Ice]

Heartbreaking to say the least. There have been a lot of similar news even from the roads - of vehicles running them over.

Debates will rage on about their business being on the tracks but there is no denying, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding before us.

I pray for the departed souls.

.

[RahuKetu]

Indirect casualties of Covid-19 virus. God knows how much more lives will this virus claim?
Expect rise in suicides also due to job losses. It will change the functioning of society & institutions post lock down in a big way.

Industries especially Construction & manufacturing will be hit most as majority of workers would not like to return back to big cities. They will be happy working in MNREGA for 100 days and in local farms for another 100 - 150 days in a year. That's enough for the majority to survive. Earnings will be sacrificed for secure lives in the years to come. Blue Collar Jobs will become very costlier & we may face situation as faced by most developed countries.

[turbo]

Today's hindi newspaper headline was rather stoic in that concern.

It says rozi roti ka safar yahi tak. (the path to livelihood and roti(food) upto here only)

Broke my heart, the scattered food, which they would have packed to eat on the way.

[Thermodynamics]

Tragic incident. Honestly, don't know how to react. Blame the ignorance or sympathize their desperation. Very unfortunate.

[aamirbhat]

Very disheartening.
Thinking that railways have stopped operations but forgot the goods carrier trains are running.
Tragic.
RIP

[vharihar]

Regardless of which component is running and which isn't (passenger vs freight), why in the world would anyone sleep on the tracks, beats me!

Makes me wonder, perhaps was it suicide?

[rjainv]

It's not suicide, rather simple human psychology.

Tracks are connecting cities and always clean of any bushes or any uneven roads or potholes.
So easy to walk. When person falls asleep, again easiest place that fits the bill of relatively clean with place to put head on.

Really unfortunate.

[aamirbhat]

Mod Note : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum. We advise you to read the Forum Rules before proceeding any further. Request to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[gkveda]

Very unfortunate event. I am not able to convince myself why people would sleep on track, when there is ample of space to sleep on roads connecting cities, unless it is a mass suicide.

Why would anyone take the railway track route to travel from one city to another? Usually, there won't be anything available to eat or drink on the tracks except at station platforms. Also, even if we assume, they were planning to catch train on their way, since trains have stopped commuting, there was no chance for them to catch train and travel. If it was road, they could have got into some vehicle and travelled and they could have got something to eat as well.

Only they know what was running in their brains when they slept on railway tracks. We can only pity them.

[Theyota]

It is beyond tragic,

- having to migrate for a humble construction or so kind of job to support their families
- being stuck without family and with no money or real support in a far away city because of a pandemic that no one ever imagined in this day and age
- having to walk back hundreds of kilometers just to be with their families with people judging them all along the way
- dying by getting crushed on rail tracks while taking a short break

The world is beyond unfair to some folk. We need to respect and take care of our fellow countrymen especially during such trying times.

[Theyota]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Very unfortunate event. I am not able to convince myself why people would sleep on track, when there is ample of space to sleep on roads connecting cities, unless it is a mass suicide.

Why would anyone take the railway track route to travel from one city to another? Usually, there won't be anything available to eat or drink on the tracks except at station platforms. Also, even if we assume, they were planning to catch train on their way, since trains have stopped commuting, there was no chance for them to catch train and travel. If it was road, they could have got into some vehicle and travelled and they could have got something to eat as well.

Only they know what was running in their brains when they slept on railway tracks. We can only pity them.

Maybe they were afraid that police will stop them and turn them back to where they came from if they walked on the road. Maybe they thought, if everything is stopped, trains will be stopped too, so they probably thought it is safe to sleep on the tracks. Maybe they passed out while eating dinner due to tiredness. Who knows man.....all I know is that no one deserves this kind of death!

[INJAXN]

Originally Posted by Theyota

The world is beyond unfair to some folk. We need to respect and take care of our fellow countrymen especially during such trying times.

Totally agree with you on this. We have failed as a country and as a human being. It was like we totally forgot them, we forgot the very people who build our houses, our roads , Our cities. Without them our lives will also be halted.

Just imagine if these people decide not to come back to cities, because cities didn’t care for them when they needed the most.

This situation could have been and should have been avoided.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Why would anyone take the railway track route to travel from one city to another?

Originally Posted by vharihar

why in the world would anyone sleep on the tracks, beats me!

Some of the points given by @rjainv and @theyota below hit the nail.

Also this facebook post provides a similar viewpoint from someone who did the same (walk on tracks) in a different situation .

As an 8 year old I once walked 7km on a railway track after I missed a bus to my village -- about 12km from the coastal town of Nagapattinam. I had come to the town for a Taekwondo class and didn't have a way to return home. My friends convinced me to take the track with them.

Why rail path? It is harder to get lost following the tracks, safer from antisocial elements [usually better protected by the railways] and thus more likely to get home.

Why walk on tracks? It is on a level ground -- the ground nearby can be quite uneven, with thorns, can be marshy or sometimes even have quick sand and can have have snakes, scorpion & other dangers from the nearby fields. The track vibration pushes those creatures away. Snakes that keep coming to the tracks don't get to live long or reproduce. The ground near the track can be often 4-6 feet lower than the tracks and you might not always have the energy to go on and off the track if you are walking long.

If you had walked along a rail path, your body instinct would tell you to walk on the tracks as it takes less energy and when you are walking 100s of km that matters a lot. And if you were sleeping, you would worry about the snakes & insects, assuming the track doesn't get trains.

And in village routes where you don't see trains for more than once or twice a day, the danger is not as apparent as in busy urban routes.

Originally Posted by rjainv

Tracks are connecting cities and always clean of any bushes or any uneven roads or potholes.
So easy to walk. When person falls asleep, again easiest place that fits the bill of relatively clean with place to put head on.

+1

Originally Posted by Theyota

Maybe they were afraid that police will stop them and turn them back to where they came from if they walked on the road. Maybe they thought, if everything is stopped, trains will be stopped too, so they probably thought it is safe to sleep on the tracks. Maybe they passed out while eating dinner due to tiredness

+1

[landcruiser123]

Man, the world is just so unfair to the poor. In India, they have it worse during this crisis.
Beats me as why they'd sleep on railway tracks. I agree that railway tracks might be best option to walk through in a crisis like this. Surely there is enough space around or between tracks to sleep?