4 cousins dead after being hit by train while crossing tracks

Mumbai: Four young men from a family died after they were hit by a Churchgate-bound fast train between Borivali and Kandivali stations in the early hours of Monday. The accident occurred when the four, all cousins, from Sindhudurg were crossing the tracks after jumping off a local train that had stopped at a signal crossing.

According to the Borivali Government Railway Police (GRP), the deceased have been identified as Sagar Chavan (23), Saiprasad Chavan (17), Dattaprasad Chavan (20), and Manoj Chavan (17). “It is standard practice of people living in that locality to get off the train when it stops at the signal. The four appear to have done the same. They suffered head injuries. They were taken to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali, where they were declared dead before admission,” senior police inspector Shailendra Dhiwar, Borivali GRP, said.

The cousins were on their way to Sagar’s residence in Poisar, Kandivali (East), which is close to the railway tracks, after attending a wedding in their home town near Kankavli in Sindhudurg.

They had boarded the Konkan Kanya Express on Sunday night and changed at Dadar, where they boarded a down fast local. Sagar, who worked as a driver for a private firm in Goregaon, had to resume work on Monday morning.

“Sagar was the sole bread earner of the family. His father does a few odd jobs such as washing, but the family was dependent on his earnings,” Dinesh Chavan, a distant uncle of the four youths, said.

Sujata Chavan, Sagar’s mother, was still in a state of shock, with the loss of her only son yet to sink in.

“I called him around 8 a.m. because he had to go to work. The phone was answered by the police who told me that my son had met with an accident, and asked me to come to the hospital,” she said.

Prashant Rane, a close friend who also lives in the vicinity, was the last person to speak to Sagar. He, too, had attended the same wedding and was returning to Mumbai by another train.

“We had planned to come back together, but Sagar chose to take the Konkan Kanya as he had to report to duty on Monday. I last spoke to him when I was in Khed and he was reaching Panvel,” Mr. Rane said. He only found out about his friend’s death after the police called him.

Of the cousins, Saiprasad and Dattaprasad were brothers and the only children of their parents. “Saiprasad was pursuing civil engineering, while Dattaprasad was doing his diploma in engineering. Manoj in Class XI is a science student. The boys wanted to spend part of their summer vacation together in Mumbai and hence they returned with Sagar,” Anil Chavan, another cousin who lives in Vasai, said.

The bodies will be taken to their home town after post-mortem, family members said.