Selfie on rail track proves fatal for two schoolboys

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 5

Two teenagers were crushed to death under a train while they were reportedly posing for a selfie on a railway track at Doraha on Sunday morning.

The victims had gone to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Katana Sahib. The incident took place when they were on their way back home.

The deceased have been identified as Yuvraj Singh (15) and Gaurav Kumar (15), both residents of Rampur village, near Sahnewal. Their friend, who was accompanying them and escaped unhurt, is yet to be identified. Yuvraj was a student of Class VII. His father is based in Dubai. Gaurav, a Class VIII student, was the son of a tailor in the village.

Avtar Singh, ASI, Doraha police station, said the incident took place around 11.30 am when the three friends were taking a selfie on the rail track on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana section. “The boy, who was taking the selfie, managed to save his life by jumping off the track, while the other two could not move and were crushed under the train. We are yet to identify the boy who was having the mobile phone,” the ASI said.

Raghuvinder Singh, ASI, GRP, said around 11.45 am, he got a call from the driver of a train heading towards Amritsar from Chandigarh. “He told me that he blew horn repeatedly, but boys did not pay heed and got crushed. The incident took place on the railway bridge where pedestrians are not allowed,” he said.

Mobile mania

March 2018: Samba resident Ajay Kumar (18)  slips from hilltop and falls into gorge while clicking a selfie with his friends near Mata Bala Sundari shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. Sustains head injuries. Declared dead at a hospital in Jammu 

Sept 2017: Abohar resident Gaurav (21) slips and drowns while taking a selfie on the banks of a canal. His body was recovered from the canal near Tootanwali village in Fazilka district 

July 2017: Two Gurdaspur girls feared drowned in a canal while clicking selfies. However, it came to light the next day that they had run away from home in search of big bucks. Lovepreet Kaur (21) and Nisha (18) had returned home later after selling their mobile phone to pay for the return fare from New Delhi to Amritsar