E-Paper
Odisha schoolboy charred to death while taking selfie atop train
The wanted to climb the compartment of a Covid special train to take a selfie. He came in contact with a high voltage power line and died.
A 13-year-old schoolboy in Odisha’s Paralakhemundi town was charred to death this evening when he tried to take a selfie by climbing atop a train. The boy lost his life when he came in contact with a high voltage power line.
Police officials said the boy had gone to Paralakhemundi railway station in Gajapati district with two of his friends when he wanted to climb the compartment of a Covid special train covered with tarpaulin and take a selfie. Gajapati SP Tapan Patnaik said as soon as the schoolboy climbed atop the bogie, he was electrocuted and then charred to death. His friends also sustained injuries.
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The East Coast Railway authorities have ordered a probe into the incident.
The train compartment also caught fire as soon as the boy was charred. The boy studied in Std 9 of Centurion Public School, Paralakhemundi. He boy was rushed to hospital where doctors declared him dead.
In September this year, a 22-year-old engineer from Tamil Nadu drowned to death in Boudh district of Odisha as he dived into the reservoir to salvage his mobile phone that had dropped from his hand while taking a selfie. Similarly, in August this year, two youths of Bargarh district died after slipping into the Kapildhar waterfalls while clicking selfies. In December last year, two teenaged girls of Jajpur district had drowned in a river while clicking selfies.
