53-year-old tourist slips off toy train while clicking selfies, dies

Darjeeling: In a first of its kind incident on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), a man from Bengal's Hooghly district fell out of the running train while trying to click a selfie and died.

53-year-old Pradeep Saxena, his wife and daughter were holidaying in Darjeeling. They had boarded the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from Ghoom for Darjeeling, a 8 km ride, on Wednesday. Saxena was standing on the footboard clicking selfies when the accident happened. As the train reached a sharp bend near Batasia Loop, Saxena slipped and fell out of the train. The other passengers raised an alarm and the train stopped. Saxena with heavy injuries was rushed to the Darjeeling Sadar Hospital. As his condition was critical, he was referred to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri, around 76 km from Darjeeling.

"On the way, his condition further deteriorated and he was taken to Kurseong Hospital where he was declared brought dead," stated Goutam Deb, the state Tourism minister. From Kurseong, the body was sent to Siliguri Sub-Divisional Hospital for post-mortem. "Following this, the body was handed over to the family members and the state government made all necessary arrangements to take it to Bangur Park in Rishra on Wednesday from Siliguri. The Chief Minister has been informed and she has expressed her condolences to the bereaved family," stated Deb.

Saxena was a businessman. Co-passengers claimed that Saxena had been warned multiple times not to stand on the footboard and click pictures.