Migrant worker on way to catch train falls unconscious, later dies in hospital

Sillu had walked around three kilometers on Tuesday afternoon to reach Pandesara area from where the authorities and Odisha community leaders had arranged buses for migrant workers to reach railway station to catch the Shramik Express.

A 32-year-old migrant worker from Odisha died at a hospital in Surat, on Tuesday, hours after he fell unconscious in a bus that was carrying migrant workers to Surat Railway Station to catch a train to their native place.

While the cause of death will be known after post-mortem report, police said that he could have died of a heat stroke after standing in a queue for three hours to catch the bus.

The deceased labour has been identified as Sillu Jena, a resident of Patel Nagar in Udhna area of Surat and a native of Ganjam district of Odisha. He was staying in Surat for the past 10 years and was working in a powerloom factory in Pandesara. He was married, but his wife lives in Odisha.

Sillu had walked around three kilometers on Tuesday afternoon to reach Pandesara area from where the authorities and Odisha community leaders had arranged buses for migrant workers to reach railway station to catch the Shramik Express. The train to Odisha left at 5 pm. He was accompanied by his uncle Shiva Jena, younger brother Mithun Jena and three other friends. All of them are powerloom workers.

Speaking with The Indian Express, Mithun said, “We reached the destination at noon, after taking meal in the morning at our home. We stood in line for around 3 hours for the bus. A large number of people had gathered there to catch buses (to railway station). Those waiting were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh… We got our bus at around 4 pm… After 15 minutes, my brother Sillu fainted in the bus… We took him to SMIMER hospital where he was admitted in the ICU ward as his condition was critical. At 11 pm, he was declared dead by the doctors.”

Mithun said that he and his uncle stayed back to perform the final rites whereas three of their friends left for Odisha. “We have cremated the body here and have collected the ashes which we will take back to Odisha. We have informed the family members. We are again trying to get train tickets for Odisha by contacting some of our community leaders.”

Assistant sub-inspector of Mahidharpura police station, Anil Chauhan said, “We have taken details in which his (Sillu’s) family members claimed that he was standing in the queue for over three hours to board the bus. We are waiting for the post-mortem report. The doctor told us that he might have got heat stroke which caused his death.”