Train hits group crossing tracks, one dead, seven injured

GHAZIABAD: One person was killed and seven others injured when they were hit by an EMU train while crossing a closed level-crossing in Ghaziabad on Tuesday morning. The deceased is yet to be identified.
The accident took place around 8am at Koatgaon when a group hurriedly started crossing the tracks after Kalka Mail coming from Delhi side passed through the level crossing. They could not see the train coming from the opposite direction and were hit.

Four cycles, one scooter and a motorcycle were left mangled by the train. Lucky Bhandari (17), a Class XI student, lost both his hands. Apart from him, the other injured were Mohammad Mehndi (52), Kalu (21), Surya Kant Tyagi and Nishant Saini, Amit and an unknown woman. Tyagi, Amit, Saini and the unknown woman were taken to private hospitals by their relatives. “We are yet to identify the deceased. His body was mutilated beyond recognition. Soon after the accident, police teams along with Government Railway Police (GRP), Railway Protection Force (RPF) and railway officials reached the spot. The body was sent for autopsy, while three of the injured were taken to MMG Hospital. They were later referred to GTB Hospital in Delhi,” said SP (city) Shlok Kumar.

The railways, however, said three persons were injured. “At 8am, four trespassers trying to cross the tracks in an unauthorised way were hit by 64109 EMU (Dankaur-Shakur Basti). One died and three were injured,” said a spokesperson of Northern Railway.

Lucky’s friend Saurav Jha (17) had a miraculous escape. “By the time we could react, the EMU hit a two-wheeler and it got stuck under it. Over the next one minute, all other vehicles and pedestrians were hit by that two-wheeler. Lucky fell on the tracks and his both hands were crushed under the train’s wheels,” Saurav added.

Kalu, one of injured, said, “The level crossing at Kotgaon remains down everytime. It’s common for local people to cross the tracks from there.”