Two persons were killed and another two injured after they were hit by a train last morning, Police said.
According to Police, they were crossing the road near the Ragama Railway Station when they had met with the accident.
It is reported that while the rail gates were closed for the Kandy-Matara express train to pass, four persons who had disregarded the warning bell had crossed the track and were hit by the express train.
The accident occurred around 7.30 last morning and 78-year-old Annie Margret Peiris, a mother of four had died in the accident. She is a resident of Welisara. However, the other deceased person had not been identified yet.
The younger daughter of the deceased woman, 43-year-old Nilmini Chandrika, a mother of two, is currently receiving treatment in Ward 20 at the Ragama hospital. However, as she is in a state of shock, it was unable to obtain any information regarding the accident from her. However, she had told a relative that they had crossed while hearing the warning bells signaling an oncoming train. She had sustained injuries to the left side of her head and arm.
The other victim, known as Rajendran is also receiving treatment in Ward 20 of the Ragama hospital.
At the time of the accident, there were three trains at the Ragama station, the slow train from Ragama to Colombo Fort was on Track 01,the express train from Kandy to Matara on Track 02 and the Chilaw train on Track 03.
According to Annie Margret’s older daughter, her mother had come to the Ragama hospital with her younger sister to attend the clinic yesterday as she was at a relative’s funeral. It was not possible to get information from her too as she was in grief.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness and three wheel drivers in the vicinity said that this accident occurred due to the carelessness of the victims.
They added that while the warning bell was being sounded and there were three trains on the tracks, even motorcyclists and cyclists were crossing the tracks.
They noted that several accidents had been reported at that spot where young people attending school and classes had been hit by trains while engaged in conversation on their mobile phones, crossing the tracks.
The people in the area highlighted the dire need in constructing an underground pass for people to cross as this station is a busy point where multiple trains frequently pass on these tracks.