15-yr-old who was hit by goods train while taking selfie dies

Kolkata: A 15-year-old boy who sustained critical injuries while trying to take a selfie with a speeding train in the background on Friday died at the hospital on early Saturday morning. The incident occurred near Noada Station in East Burdwan district when a speeding goods train hit him.

The railway police said the victim, identified as Biswajit Midhha, was standing on a railway track in an attempt to take a selfie with an Express train passing through another track in the background. He could not see the approaching goods train on that track.

Railway police claimed that the motorman of the goods train blew the horn but he failed to draw the attention of the boy who had been extremely engrossed in his mobile phone trying to take the selfie.

The accident took place on Friday when the victim was returning home in Budbud from Noada where he went to one of his relative's houses on the occasion of Laxmi Puja on Wednesday. When he was entering Noada Station on Friday, he found that Up Santiniketan Express was passing through the area. He took out his mobile phone and started clicking selfies while standing on another track.

A speeding goods train suddenly came on the track and hit him. Midhha fell at a distance due to the impact of the accident. Some locals rushed him to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on early Saturday morning.

He originally hailed from Pakur in Jharkhand and used to stay at his uncle's house at Budbud in East Burdwan.

Bengal has reported several selfie-related deaths in the past few months.

Friday's incident is just the latest in a string of deadly accidents involving selfies in the state. Despite various awareness campaigns carried out both by the Railways and the state government, such incidents are rampant as selfies have become some sort of an addiction for many youngsters.

A few months ago, a youth was killed while taking a selfie at Memari in the same district.

"Witnesses told us that he was on the edge of the platform when he was trying to take his selfie and was hit by a goods train. More youngsters have a propensity to take selfies with a running train in the background as a result of which accidents often have taken place," a railway police officer said. The railway police have started a detailed probe into the incident.