A railway track accident at Khana Junction on the Burdwan-Asansol route killed a 30-year-old woman and her 11-year-old daughter on Friday morning after they were struck by the Down Asansol-Sealdah Intercity Express while crossing the tracks, according to family and police sources cited by the Times of India.
The victims were identified as Puja Das, 30, and her daughter Pallabi, an 11-year-old Class V student. The two were residents of Krishnabati village in East Burdwan’s Mangalkot block. They had travelled to Puja’s parental home in Daspara, near Khana village, on Wednesday to celebrate Bhaiphonta with her brother, Bikash Das.
Puja left for her in-laws’ residence in Mangalkot with Pallabi at around 7 am on Friday. She had told her mother that she did not need company to reach the station. The mother and daughter went to Khana Junction to catch a train towards Burdwan railway station, from where they planned to take a connecting train to Mangalkot.
According to eyewitnesses, the two were crossing the tracks to reach the opposite platform when they failed to notice the signal or the approaching train. The Down Asansol-Sealdah Intercity Express entered the station at high speed and ran them over, killing both at the spot.
At around 7.45 am, acquaintances living near the station informed Puja’s family about the incident. Government Railway Police personnel from Burdwan station reached the location and recovered the bodies. Puja’s father, Bapi Das, and other relatives later identified them.
The bodies were sent to the police morgue at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination. The incident has again highlighted the fatal consequences of passengers crossing railway tracks between platforms, although the report does not provide details of any formal crossing facility or station-safety response at Khana Junction.
