Freight train runs over ‘migrants sleeping on tracks’, 16 killed

New Delhi: Railways ministry officials said the driver of the freight train which mowed down 16 persons lying on a track in Aurangabad could not be faulted for trespassing by individuals, even as the ministry promptly constituted an inquiry into the incident.

“The driver of a goods train had spotted people lying on tracks early on Friday morning but could not save lives despite applying emergency brakes. Prima facie it appears that nothing could have been done,” Railway Board executive director Rajesh Dutt Bajpai told ET.

A train with huge mass and velocity takes about a kilometre to stop after emergency brakes are applied and it’s difficult to spot anything on the tracks from such a distance, said Bajpai. Sixteen of the 19 labourers, who worked at an iron and steel factory in Jalna, were hit by the goods train between Badnapur and Karmad stations in Parbhani-Manmad section. Three others were safe, said the Railway Board executive director.


Commissioner of Railway Safety South Central circle, Ram Kripal, will hold an independent inquiry into the incident, which occurred in the Nanded railway division of South Central Railway, the ministry announced hours after the incident.

Preliminary information suggests the group of workers seem to have walked about 35 kilometres along the track, got tired and fell asleep before the fatal mishap, Railway Protection Force officials told ET on condition of anonymity.

They were walking to catch a special train bound for Madhya Pradesh so that they could reach their homes in Sehdol district of the state.

Migrant workers have been forced to walk to reach their native places owing to the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19. Many of them have died on way either due to hunger or because of other mishap. Less than two years ago, 59 persons were run over by a speeding train in Amritsar.