Two teenage girls who were glued to their cellphones while crossing the railway tracks were run over by a speeding train on Tuesday afternoon. The gruesome death occurred at the level crossing of the Liluah station in Howrah. The victims were identified as Himangshi Gupta and her friend Payel Agarwal. They were Class 10
students of Agrasen Balika Shiksha Sadan in Liluah. Both were aged around 16.
Superintendent of railway police (Howrah) R.N. Mukherjee said, “The accident took place at around 1.02 pm. Himangshi and Payel, childhood friends, were busy talking on their cellphones while crossing the tracks, defying the signal.” He added, “The girls were going to attend private tuition. The Up Memari local, coming from Howrah station, knocked them down.”
While Himangshi died on the spot, Payel was rushed to the Howrah General Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
Asked if the accident led to any disruption of services, Mr Mukherjee explained that the bodies were removed from the tracks soon. It were sent for post-mortem.