Train mows down three students near Minjur

From : Times of India
Date : Oct 01 2010

Minjur: Three students were run over by the Darbanga-Bangalore Express at the Minjur railway station, a suburb on the Chennai-Gummidipoondi route, on Thursday. Agitated fellow students pelted stones at trains, damaged railway property and held up train traffic for over three hours. The accident happened at 1.30pm.

Parameshwar, 19, Vijay Kumar, 20, and Vinod, 20, students of a nearby college, died on the spot, while four others — Majid, 20, Jaya Kumar, 20, Daniel Raj, 23, and Raj, 20 — have been admitted to a hospital with severe injuries.

Students who were protesting the death of their collegemates, pelted stones at the Darbanga-Bangalore Express which was stopped after the accident. They also targeted two suburban trains that came into the station.

According to a senior railway official, although the victims had spotted the train, they were not aware that it was running on the track they were crossing. He added that collegemates of the victims became violent and could be pacified only after much persuasion. Many commuters were also affected by the incident.

Two suburban trains on the Gummidipoondi route were cancelled and three suburban trains had to turn back at Tiruvallur, Ennore and Minjur because the students held up the traffic. Long distance trains, including the Chennai-Rameswaram Express, Chennai-Bhubanes-war Express, Chennai-Vijayawada Pinakini Express and Bangalore-Patna Express, were delayed. These trains which had departed from Chennai were delayed by nearly three hours. Incoming trains from Kolkata and Bangalore were also held up before Minjur.