M. Gnaneshwar, 15, of Thaazhaiyooththu near here was electrocuted when he tried to take selfie with his mobile phone while standing atop a locomotive on the fourth platform of Tirunelveli Railway Junction on Thursday.
He came to the junction along with his father Maheshwaran, who is a ‘quality inspector’ with Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation. Even as Mr. Maheshwaran was inspecting the goods being unloaded from the goods train, Gnaneshwar climbed atop the engine to take selfie without knowing that the power cable carrying 25,000 volt electricity is passing overhead to feed electricity to the loco.
As the boy came in contact with the high voltage electric cable, he got charred and fell on the platform. He died on the spot. The body was sent to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem.
While platform 1 of Tirunelveli Railway Junction would always be busy, the fourth platform would be relatively deserted throughout the day and hence none noticed the boy climbing up the engine.
