Palakkad: The body of a sanitary worker who went missing after a train accident near Shoranur railway station was retrieved from the Bharathapuzha river on Sunday evening, police said.

According to Railways, three people died, and one was missing after the Thiruvananthapuram-bound Kerala Express struck workers collecting garbage from the tracks at approximately 3.05 pm on Saturday. The body of Lakshmanan (60), a resident of Tamil Nadu, was recovered during an extensive search operation conducted by scuba divers and fire personnel, police stated.

Although the search began on Sunday morning, they were able to retrieve the body from the river only late in the evening, Shoranur police added. This brings the total number of fatalities to four in the incident – Lakshmanan, his wife Valli (55), Valli's relative Rani (45) and her husband Lakshmanan (48).

In response to the incident, Southern Railways has terminated the contract of the company responsible for cleaning the railway tracks. "The process to terminate the contract has begun, and a criminal case will also be filed against the contractor for failing to ensure worker safety," the Railways stated in a release.