Chennai: 72-yr-old dies after fall from train’s top berth

Chennai: 72-yr-old dies after fall from train’s top berth

TNN | Dec 14, 2021, 03.45 AM IST

CHENNAI: A 72-year-old-man died after slipping and falling in his sleep from the upper berth of an express train to Chennai on Sunday night. A Government Railway Police (GRP) team, which examined the body at Tambaram station, found his spectacles broken and blood around the left ear.

The deceased, Narayanan of Karaikudi, was part of a 20-member group which was on a pilgrimage to a temple in Vadakara in Kerala and planned to start from a temple in Chennai’s Mannady (Parry’s). The group boarded S2 coach in Silambu Express (Sengottai to Chennai Egmore) on Saturday. After dinner, Narayanan took the upper berth. He is believed to have slipped and fallen to the floor of the coach at Maraimalai Nagar, but the others in the group failed to notice it immediately. After 10 minutes, some people found him lying on the floor bleeding from the ear. His co-passengers tried to help him, as he was unconscious. The authorities were alerted. At Tambaram station, the railway health staff who reached the compartment declared Narayanan dead. The Tambaram GRP registered a case and sent the body to the Chromepet GH for postmortem. Doctors there told police they found blood around the left ear and that a piece from the broken spectacles may have pierced him. He had removed his spectacles and placed them in the pocket on the left side of his shirt, police said.

Police said he was allotted berth 57 (lower), but slept on berth 60 (upper). “We suspect he could have swapped seats with someone and slept on the upper berth from where he slipped while he was asleep,” said an investigating officer.