AT LEAST 14 people travelling on the roof of a packed train in northern India were swept to their deaths yesterday after hitting a bridge, railway and hospital officials said.
The victims were mostly men returning from a recruitment drive for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Uttar Pradesh, which resulted in severe overcrowding on local trains.
“They were caught unawares by an approaching over-bridge under which the train had to pass,” local railway operations manager Vikas Chaube told reporters. “Some of the roof-riders managed to lie flat and save their lives.”
The accident took place in the district of Shahjahanpur, about 190 kilometres (120 miles) from Lucknow.
The Shahjahanpur district hospital chief, medical superintendent DK Sonkar, said that six people died at the scene and eight others later succumbed to their injuries, while 14 others were still in hospital.
Earlier in the day, mobs of frustrated job seekers had torched six state-owned buses and several other vehicles, damaged shops and fought battles with the police amid claims of mismanagement of the recruitment drive.
Thousands of people, many from the nearby impoverished state of Bihar, had converged on the town of Barielly, where potential new recruits for the border police were being interviewed.
The sight of people perched precariously on the roofs of trains is an iconic image of India, despite the practice being illegal with a punishment of one month in jail and/or a Rs500 ($10/£6.18) fine.
As in many other areas of Indian life, the law is rarely, if ever, enforced.
