Palakkad: The Southern Railways terminated a contractor, Malappuram native Munnavar, after three cleaning workers were struck and killed by a train at Shoranur. It also announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh for the victims' families.
“The action for terminating the contract has been initiated, and a criminal case also is being lodged against the contractor for failing to ensure the safety of the workers about the incoming trains,” said Southern Railways in an official statement dated November 2.
The incident happened Saturday evening as the workers crossed a railway bridge over the Bharatapuzha River. According to the statement, “Upon completion of the work, a group of about 10 labourers instead of using the road took the railway bridge to cross over the other side to reach the station, that too without informing the railway officials and without the permission of Railway Personnel. Since no railway work was planned on the bridge on the day, no railway protection was available on the bridge.”
“Unfortunately, four individuals were hit by a train. The bridge on UP line side has a speed restriction of 30kmph, but unfortunately, the workers took the bridge on DN line side which does not have any speed restriction. At the same time Train no:12626 Kerala Express also entered over the bridge on down line side. Unfortunately, at that time 3 workers were run over and 1 worker jumped into the river (sic),” the Railways said.
The deceased - Rani, Valli and Lakshman - were natives of Salem in Tamil Nadu. A search operation is underway to find the fourth person, Lakshman, who jumbed into the river.
