Image Source: TIMES NOW

In a tragic incident yesterday, a train ran over 16 migrant workers while they were sleeping on a railway track near Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The workers hailed from Madhya Pradesh and were travelling back to their hometowns on foot along the railway tracks. An eyewitness of the horrific train incident told media that the group of migrant workers was going back to their village in Madhya Pradesh. He also said he tried to alert his colleagues about the moving train but failed to help them. He said, We all hail from Madhya Pradesh and we work for SRG Company, Jalna. We were going to our native villages. We left our rooms at 7 PM on Thursday and reached the incident spot at around 4 AM in the morning on Friday. We stopped there to take some rest. Those who died in the incident were only a few metres ahead of three of us. They sat on the tracks and gradually went into sleep. I along with two others were taking rest some distance away from tracks. After some time a freight train came. I alerted them but they could not hear me and train ran over them, he said. We had applied for the passes a week ago. Due to lockdown in the wake of COVID-19, we became jobless and were running out of money, hence we were going to our villages, he added. Earlier in the day, the mortal remains of the workers were sent to Madhya Pradesh on a special train. The mortal remains of the 16 migrant labourers, who died after they were run over by a freight train near Aurangabad yesterday, were sent to Madhya Pradesh on a special train - carrying migrant labourers to the state - on Friday night, confirmed Aurangabad Rural SP Mokshada Patil. Patil also said that an accidental death case has been lodged. The police are carrying out an investigation while the Aurangabad Collector has also ordered an inquiry into the matter. Yesterday, at least 16 labourers were killed and five others were injured after a train ran over them between Jalna and Aurangabad in Maharashtra. The injured were immediately rushed to Aurangabad civil hospital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh both expressed grief on the deaths and assured all the help needed. Both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments announced ex-gratia for the kin of the deceased.