Kolkata: Three persons, including two siblings, were run over by a speeding train at Canning in South 24 Parganas early on Sunday. The accident took place when they were crossing the railway tracks to buy fish from the vendors at the Champhati station of Sealdah South section of the Eastern Railway. The victims were Pintu Mondal and his sister Mamoni and a woman in her sixties.
The siblings were killed on the spot. All of them were residents of Tardaha in Kolkata Leather Complex area in the southern fringes of the city. At around 6.40 am, a Sealdah-bound Canning Local knocked them down. Local residents said that the three didn’t move as they were too busy buying fish as the train was coming towards them.
The railway police personnel later recovered the two bodies and sent them for post-mortem while taking the injured woman to the hospital. The elderly woman however succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital. According to the locals, every morning fish sellers occupy both sides of the tracks for their business, which been posing a threat to lives of those that buy the fish.
Sunday’s incident was an eye-opener, they said. Railway officials said the hawkers along the tracks had earlier been evicted but had returned. Some of them raised questions on the role of the local police. Superintendent of police (Baruipur) Arijit Sinha however said that all cooperation would be provided if the railways sought any help.
