2 migrants found dead on Shramik Train from Mumbai to Varanasi

Two migrants were found dead when a Shramik train from Mumbai arrived in Varanasi on Wednesday. The exact cause of death has not been ascertained.

Two people were found dead on a Shramik Express train that came from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on Wednesday.

The train was running from Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak terminus to the Manduadih village in the Varanasi district. The bodies were found by railway staff when other passengers had got off the train and it was shifted to the yard for cleaning and sanitising. The train had arrived at the Manduadih station at 8.21 am.

The cause of death is yet to be ascertained. North Eastern Railway spokesperson Ashok Kumar said during a medical examination, it was found that both suffered from serious health issues.

One of them, identified as Dashrath Prajapati (30), was a resident of UP's Jaunpur. He was differently-abled and getting treatment for a kidney-related problem in Mumbai. A relative of Dashrath, who was travelling with him, said he had complained of some health problem when they reached Allahabad and then slept.

He did not wake up when they reached Varanasi.

The other victim was identified as Ram Ratan (63), a resident of Azamgarh district.

The Government Railway Police took custody of the bodies and sent them for an autopsy. Manduadih GRP in-charge BS Yadav said both bodies were handed over to relatives after autopsy.

At least seven deaths on-board migrant special trains were reported on Wednesday, officials said, putting the Railways in the dock over its handling of these non-AC trains.

The national transporter said most of the deceased had pre-existing health conditions.

The seven deaths -- four on-board trains travelling to Bihar and three terminating in Uttar Pradesh -- happened over the past few days and were reported on Wednesday.

The coronavirus-triggered lockdown has had a devastating impact on the economy as well as on the livelihoods of lakhs of migrant workers.

With no money, food or water for days, many are paying the cost of the lockdown with their lives.

The plight of migrant workers who were walking on foot from several urban centres to their villages hundreds of kilometres away had grabbed headlines for almost two months.

There have been incidents of many of them being killed in road accidents. A number of migrant labourers were even killed by a speeding train after they fell asleep on the tracks.

On May 1, the Indian Railways started the migrant special trains to facilitate the movement of such workers back to their home states.