Woman Crushed by Freight Train While Crossing Tracks in Daltonganj

Daltonganj: A 66-year-old woman was crushed to death as she was crawling beneath a long-haul freight train of 116 wagons to cross the railway tracks between Daltonganj and Chiyanki railway stations on Monday, officials said.

The incident took place around 9:20 am. The deceased was identified as Sumitra Devi, a resident of Sua Jama Tola, RPF official B P Singh said.

Daltonganj railway station superintendent Umesh Kumar said the woman was trying to cross under one of the wagons when the train suddenly began moving. “The engine of the long-haul empty goods train started moving, giving no chance to this woman to come out or to survive,” Kumar said.

Officials said the train was headed to Barwadeeh for its onward journey.

A railway official reiterated repeated warnings against crossing beneath trains. “We always ask people not to crawl beneath the wagons of trains as it is always dangerous,” the official said.

The official added that haste often proves fatal as people ignore repeated warnings. “A stationary train can proceed without any hint of the start to the person who is so crawling beneath the wagon,” he said.

RPF and Govt Railway Police sent the body to Medinirai Medical College and Hospital in Daltonganj for postmortem examination.