Two teens fall to death while trying to alight from running train in Kerala

Two teenagers, who were trying to alight from a moving train, fell to their death in Koratty Angadi railway station in Thrissur district in the early hours of Friday, December 16. The incident occurred when Krishnakumar (16) and Sanjay (17) were returning home from a visit to Ernakulam.

The police have assumed, based on the nature of their injuries, that the teenagers, who are also cousins, must have jumped out when the train slowed down as it does not have a stop in Koratty. While one of the boys came under the moving train, the other got severely injured after his head hit the platform.

Koratty police told TNM that the accident went unnoticed as it took place at around 2 am, when the station was deserted, as it is not a major one. Passengers noticed the bodies almost two hours later, by which time both of them had succumbed to their injuries. “Postmortem will be conducted tomorrow morning, after which the bodies will be handed over to the families,” the police informed. The teenagers had gone to Ernakulam on Thursday evening, according to the police. 

Nainu Richu, member of Attapadam ward in Koratty Panchayat, where Sanjay’s family lives, said that their grandparents had been trying to contact them last night. However, they had hoped that the boys would return in the morning. The family received the news of the deaths from the police around 6.30 am, she said. “It is said that they got on a superfast train that didn’t have a stop in Koratty,” she stated.

Former Koratty town ward member Gracy Babu told TNM that this is the first time that such an accident has taken place at Koratty railway station. “We usually take trains that have a stop in Koratty, or we alight in Aluva or Chalakudy. The boys may have been unaware that the train wouldn't stop here,” she said. 

Krishnakumar and Sanjay are the sons of sisters Prabha and Priya, respectively. Prabha is a domestic worker in the Gulf, while Priya works as a domestic worker in Paravoor. Krishnakumar’s father Shankaran Pulikkal works at a soda-company. He also has an elder brother. Sanjay’s father Chidambaran Kuttipallathu, who was a daily wage worker, passed away a year ago due to cardiac illness. He has an elder sister.