A 30-year-old woman and her young daughter were killed on Friday morning (November 13) after they were struck by the Down Asansol-Sealdah Intercity Express while crossing the railway tracks at Khana Junction in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, according to reports by the Times of India and Anandabazar Patrika.

Source: The Times of India

The woman was identified by her family as Puja Das, a resident of Krishnabati village in the Mangalkot block of the district. In keeping with the protection of minors, her daughter — a school student — is not being named.

According to the Times of India report, Puja Das had travelled on Wednesday to her parental home at Daspara, near Khana village, to celebrate Bhaiphonta with her brother. She left at around 7 am on Friday with her daughter to return to her in-laws' home in Mangalkot, planning to catch a train from Khana Junction towards Burdwan and then a connecting train.

Eyewitness accounts cited in the reports say the two were crossing the tracks to reach the opposite platform when the Intercity Express entered the station at speed. Both died at the spot. What exactly they noticed or missed in those moments has not been officially established.

Acquaintances living near the station informed the family of the accident at around 7.45 am. Government Railway Police personnel from Burdwan station reached the site and recovered the bodies, which relatives later identified.

The bodies were sent to the police morgue at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination, both reports said.

Source: Anandabazar Patrika

Khana Junction lies on the Bardhaman-Asansol section, a busy rail corridor linking Bardhaman and Asansol with Sealdah-bound services. The deaths have again raised the question of passengers crossing live tracks between platforms at busy junctions — the reports do not state what crossing facility was available at the spot where the two were crossing, and no railway inquiry had been reported at the time of publication.