Body of missing railway staffer found in Aroor-Kottapuram river

Kochi: The body of railway gangman Vivek Haridas (26) was found from Aroor Kottapuram riverside on Sunday over 36 hours after he fell off from the Aroor bridge while trying to avoid being hit by a speeding train. “The body was found to the east of the Fisheries school at 2 pm. We are completing the inquest report and his autopsy will be done only on Monday,” police said.

The mishap happened at 12.45 am on Saturday when Vivek, a resident of Kariyil House, Varanad, Cherthala, and his colleague Ajesh (33) were inspecting the track over the one-km long Aroor bridge as part of monsoon patrolling. Suddenly the Kollam-Ernakulam MEMU train came from the Aroor side as the duo ran along the tracks to the nearest trolley refuge set along the bridge.

Though his friend managed to reach the box, Vivek could  not reach there and jumped off the track into the cold waters to escape the speeding train. On November last year, a similar mishap happened at the same spot. Gangman Shyamlal Meena (32), a native of Rajasthan, fell from the Aroor bridge while alighting from a Track packing machine.