Chennai: Three men, in their early 20s, were killed and one person had a close shave after a suburban electric train ran over them near Kodambakkam on Sunday night when the quartet attempted to cross the railway tracks.
The incident happened around 11 pm, railway police said. The three deceased men were identified as A. Karthik (24), M. Manoj (25) and J. Shashank (20) – all residents of Kodambakkam. They were said to be at a temple festival in their neighbourhood and scaled a compound wall to cross the railway tracks when they met with the accident.
Police suspect they may have been in an inebriated condition. “They were oblivious of the incoming train. Another person who accompanied the victims is said to have warned them, but they failed to pay heed,” a railway police officer said.
Shashank, an engineering student, and Manoj who works in an advertising agency, were killed on the spot while Karthik who suffered grievous injuries was moved to the Mambalam railway station to be shifted on to an ambulance when he was declared dead by the paramedic. Of the three, Karthik was the only one who was married, police said.
Police moved their bodies to the Rajiv Gandhi Government general hospital and handed over the bodies to the families after autopsy. Only three months ago, four persons were killed on a single day in separate accidents along the Tambaram-Beach line.
Only a day ago, a teenager suffered grievous burn injuries in a freak accident after he got electric shock when he climbed atop a train in the yard near Tambaram railway station. M. Dileepan (18) was celebrating his birthday with friends when he attempted to take a selfie atop the train and came in contact with the high-tension wire. He is undergoing treatment at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.
