3 youths taking selfie crushed to death by train

BENGALURU: Three youths from Bengaluru, who were engrossed in taking selfies on a railway track, were run over by an Express train on Tuesday. The incident occurred in Manchanayakanahalli near Bidadi, close to the amusement park Wonderla, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.The victims are Prateek Raikar (20), a college dropout, resident of Banashankari II stage, Rohit J (16), resident of Someshwar Layout in Hulimavu, and Prabhu Anand P (18), resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Koramangala. Both PU students of National College, Rohit was doing Commerce while Prabhu was studying PCMB. All three were the only children of their parents.

The friends were going to Wonderla on their bikes. While on Manchanayakanahalli bridge at 9.15am, they heard the sound of a train and changed their plan.The three decided to take selfies with Chamundi Express in the background. The train was heading towards Bengaluru from Mysuru and the trio waited on the tracks. As they were focused on Chamundi Express, they failed to hear Mysore-Sholapur Gol Gumbaz Express, which had just left Bengaluru and was speeding on the adjacent tracks in opposite direction.

Railway police said, “The boys were standing against Chamundi Express and were clicking selfies. They did not hear the other train approaching as Chamundi Express was also chugging towards them. When Chamundi Express neared, they jumped on the other track and were crushed to death by Gol Gumbaz Express. Their phones were smashed to pieces.”

The impact was so severe that their bodies were dragged for a kilometre and dismembered.
A villager who was heading to the field informed Bidadi police. An alert was made to Railway police who shifted the bodies to Rajarajeswhari hospital for post mortem before handing them over to parents. A case of unnatural death is registered.