PWI run over by train

Railway engineer run over by train

TNN Jul 24, 2013

MADURAI: A railway junior engineer who was inspecting the track was killed on the spot after the Chennai-bound Vaigai Express mowed him down near Sholavandhan station on Tuesday morning. Government Railway Police (GRP) recovered his body and sent it for postmortem.
According to railway police, P Sukumar, 47, a junior engineer posted at the Kodai Road station was in-charge of the track section from Sholavandhan to Ambathurai. On Tuesday morning, Sukumar was inspecting the track - a joint which was repaired recently - 300 metres away from Sholavandhan station. However, he failed to take note of the approaching Vaigai Express bound for Chennai. Sukumar was mowed down by the train and in the impact sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot, police said.

GRP DSP, C Vellaiyan said the incident occurred around 7.10am near Sholavandhan station. The railway staff had carried out some repair work the previous day due to rail fracture and Sukumar went early in the morning to inspect if the work was carried out in a satisfactory manner. "Sukumar did not notice the train and was so involved in his work when the train's locomotive rammed him. He was killed on the spot due to head injury. The dead body was recovered and the family was informed about the accident," he said.
Sukumar hails from Aruppukottai but was living with his family in Thanakkankulam on the outskirts of Madurai. The body was handed over to the family after postmortem. Meanwhile, the Vaigai Express was halted for some five minutes at the accident site as the body was removed, police sources said.
Railway unions here pointed out the enormous job stress the engineering section staff undergoing due to lot of vacancies in the section. J M Rafi, divisional secretary of Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU) said that there are nearly 900 vacancies in the engineering section especially the safety category in Madurai railway division. "Most of the engineering staff in safety category work round-the-clock due to lack of staff strength and we have been staging series of demonstrations to fill the vacancies immediately," he said.