News
Lives gone in a snap from an epidemic of selfie-obsession
View(s):Railway engine driver G G Hemachandra was on a routine run from Colombo Fort to Aluthgama last Sunday.
Shortly after he passed the Kollupitiya Railway Station, about 100 meters ahead he noticed two children taking selfies.
“I tooted the horn.
As the train moved closer I saw a smaller child running away from the track and then the other boy jumping off the track to the opposite side,’’ he remembered. “But the smaller boy rushed back towards the track and tried to cross the track. Both of them were hit by the train. Both boys panicked.’’
Assistant superintendent of railway security, N P Jayantha. Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Mr Hemachandra has been summoned to the Coroner’s Court on June 29 to give evidence in the ongoing inquiry into the deaths of Ranaweera Arachchilage Madushan Ranaweera, 23, and Ranaweera Arachchilage Thilakshana Ranweera, 11.
Their mother, Rajapakshalage Bandaramanike, 52, a resident of Anuradhapura told the coroner in Colombo that they had been visiting relatives.
She had picked up the eldest son who had arrived earlier from Singapore after completing his three-year degree in hotel management.
She explained that the two children were taking selfies at the railway tracks towards the sea shore.
“Around 6:30 pm the boys were still taking pictures when the train approached with its front lights on,’’ she recalled.
“My elder son Madushan ran towards the sea side, while the younger one Thilakshana ran half way to our side and made a turn towards the brother when the elder son yelled, ‘malli paninna epa [don’t cross] and also got onto the track to drag him towards him, but both were knocked down by the train.”
The elder son suffered damage to the leg and was taken to the Colombo National Hospital in a three-wheeler, while the other son’s body was headless. The elder son also passed away few hours after admission while other son’s head was found the day after.
A relative of the victims who also witnessed the incident, W P Gunawardena, also explained that the boys went to the sea shore after another small boy who was in the group was eager to go to the beach.
The postmortems were done on Monday morning. The Judicial Medical Officer, Dr K K Joozari, explained that the 11 year-old-boy’s death was due to decapitation. The 23-year-old-boy’s postmortem was held by Judicial Medical Officer, Dr D.I .L Ratnayake, who explained that the boy had died of multiple injuries.
Colombo City Coroner, Ashroff Rumi, said that the two deaths were due to a train accident and ordered the police to produce the engine driver for further inquiry on 29th Friday.
The incident once again raised concerns over careless mobile phone users being distracted on roads, public places, places of high risk, or while driving.
On the same day of the incident at Kollupitiya and almost around the same time, another accident took place near the Kahawa Railway Station in Ambalangoda last Sunday.
N B J Pradeep, the engine driver of the train from Matara to Colombo, told the Sunday times that a couple were taking selfies in middle of the railway track.
“I saw them from a distance of 300 feet. I blared the horn, but they were continuing to take photos. The man was wearing a helmet, while the woman was beside him when the train knocked them down,” he said.
He had applied the brakes, but the train came to a stop 200 feet away close to the Kahawa station. They were a newly-married couple. The youth was killed and his wife is in a critical condition in hospital. The police and railway authorities are urging stronger law enforcement.
The assistant superintendent of railway security, N P Jayantha, said that within a five month period, there have been more than 20 accidents involving people who used their phones while walking, taking selfies on rail tracks, or footboards of trains.
“During the year, there had been at least 20 cases where people have been killed in rail accidents while using phones,” he said.
Meanwhile he said 207 train accidents have occurred for this year.
Mr Jayantha explained that the railway has also taken legal action over 80 incidents involving drivers who crossed rail tracks when the gates are closed.
He said the most serious accidents took place between Kollupitiya and Mount Lavinia during the weekends and public holidays.
“Walking on the railway track is illegal under the Railways Ordinance. If we find a person loitering at the tracks we can produce that person in court. They face fines between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000,’’ he said.
The Railway Department’s security force is planning to begin educational programmes at stations. They will use street dramas. Stations have been directed to announce that walking on railway tracks and taking selfies on the tracks or the edge of the platforms, are illegal. The railways Facebook page is also posting warnings.
The general secretary of the Locomotive Engineers Union, D H Indika, said railway authorities should punish jaywalkers. He suggested policing the tracks in certain areas.
He said there was no need to warn those illegally walking on tracks with a blast of the horn. And yet, he said, train drivers, toot horns to save lives.
He also said the railway has been asked to introduce trains with automatic doors that remain shut during the journey.
A senior officer of the traffic Police Division, said no one should take selfies on roads, or even if they are pedestrians.
He said it appears that some who take selfies on rail tracks are showing off their bravery. But these stunts end in death.