Three individuals suspected of indulging in mischief along a railway track in Pune were fatally struck by a passing train, police said on Monday, as reported by PTI. The tragic incident occurred near the Manjari area on the outskirts of Pune city on Sunday night. According to officials, the youths were present on or near the tracks when the speeding train approached. The initial probe suggests they may have been unaware of the train’s arrival due to their activities. Their bodies were later recovered from the site, and authorities alerted their families about the fatal accident.
"As per preliminary information, five to six youth, aged between 18 and 20, were walking along the track, while a couple of them were sitting on it. It is suspected that while they were engaged in some mischief, a train struck three of them around 9 pm on Sunday," an official from Hadapsar police station said, reported PTI. The official added that the youths belonged to a nearby locality in Manjari and were known to frequent the area. "We have registered an accidental death case and are probing the sequence of events," the official said.
Earlier, a separate incident had shaken Mumbai when two commuters died after a speeding train ran over five people near Sandhurst Road station on November 6. The tragedy happened during the evening rush hours after an abrupt strike by railway workers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). Several passengers, stranded due to halted services, began walking along the tracks. The agitation, initiated to protest an FIR against railway engineers linked to the Mumbra tragedy, caused services between 5.50 pm and 6.45 pm to stop entirely, disrupting schedules and leaving thousands of office-goers stranded across the Central Railway network.
In another unrelated incident, a container truck transporting chemicals crashed into a tree near a crossing in Thane city, damaging a streetlight pole and an autorickshaw and briefly affecting traffic, PTI reported. The accident occurred at 11.31 pm on Sunday when the tanker, travelling from Dahej in Gujarat to Wagle Estate in Thane, lost control near Teen Hath Naka. A large branch fell on the truck and then onto an autorickshaw ahead. Fortunately, the driver and two passengers escaped unhurt, though the vehicle’s roof was damaged. The fallen branch also struck a streetlight pole, causing it to collapse.
Officials confirmed the truck was carrying polymer dispersions, a non-toxic, non-inflammable chemical used in textiles, packaging coatings and construction materials. Emergency teams, including police, fire brigade and disaster management personnel, responded promptly to the scene. Traffic on the Nashik-Mumbai route was halted for nearly an hour and diverted to the service road until the debris was cleared. Rescue workers removed the fallen branches and restored normal vehicular movement. Authorities also inspected the chemical tanker to ensure no leakage or risk to public safety before allowing it to be moved from the site.