4 Migrants, Headed Home, Killed In Accidents. Mother-Daughter Among Them

Ambala/Raebareli: Two migrants on the move, travelling thousands of kilometres to their villages amid the coronavirus lockdown have been killed since last night in car crashes in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. A migrant worker from Bihar was killed and another injured after being hit by a speeding car in Haryana, the police said on Tuesday. Another migrant cycling home was killed last night in Rae Bareli.

This morning, two migrants were walking on a road at Ambala Cantt in Haryana when they were hit by an SUV. One died on the spot while the other is in hospital with serious injuries.

The migrants were on their way to Bihar, said the police. The car allegedly swerved at a high speed and went out of control. The driver is missing but the car has been seized.

In the other incident in Rae Bareli, a 25-year-old migrant, Shiv Kumar Das, was cycling in a group from western UP's Bulandshahr to his village in Bihar when he was hit.

Reports suggest the car went out of control after its brakes failed. The driver was also injured and the car was badly smashed.

Tens of thousands of migrant workers let jobless by the virus lockdown since late March have been walking, cycling or hitching rides, desperate to reach home despite a ban on public transport or interstate movement.

Many migrants continue to do so despite special trains arranged for them, finding the tickets too expensive and the paperwork too arduous.

There have been many instances of migrants losing their lives in recent weeks.

On the weekend, six workers on their way to UP were killed in Madhya Pradesh when a truck overturned.

Before that, 16 migrants walking along railway tracks to avoid the highway were run over by a goods train. Exhausted, they had fallen asleep on the tracks thinking no trains were running.

(Inputs and image from ndtv.com)