A 25-year-old man from Warangal was hit by an approaching MMTS train in the city while attempting to capture a selfie video along a railway track. The man, a gym trainer, survived the accident but was booked under railway laws.
The video of the incident, attributed to recklessness by authorities, was captured on T. Siva’s phone and shows him standing in the foreground of an approaching MMTS train near Borabanda MMTS Railway Station. Despite an audible warning from a person nearby and the train’s locomotive pilot blaring the horn, Siva does not budge, unmindful of his proximity to the oncoming train. The phone falls to the ground as the train rams him.
Despite the seemingly severe impact of the collision, Siva survived the accident with minor injuries, the railway officials said.
A press release from South Central Railway claimed Siva had persisted on capturing the video despite a home guard warning him about the approaching the train. The home guard then produced him before the Railway Police after the collision.
“He was booked and penalised ₹500. Despite the severity of the impact in the video, he escaped largely unhurt as the locopilot applied the emergency brakes and slowed the train,” said Bharatnagar Railway Protection Inspector Sudhakar Rao.
A spokesperson for the South Central Railway also informed that train accidents involving humans had become increasingly common on the tracks due to cell phone use. The official said it amounts to trespassing on railway property which is a punishable offence.
