The death of an unidentified man hit by a train in Gandrungmangu in Cilacap, Central Java, on Thursday, May 18, has prompted another reminder to be safe when around train tracks.
Gandrungmangu Police Chief and Police Commissioner Agus Subagyo said the incident occurred just past midnight that morning, when the Bandung to Surabaya train passed toward Gandrungmangu village.
A technician saw the victim sitting on the track and immediately rang out out the train’s horn, he said. Witness reports said the victim stood up and ignored the warning and was hit by the oncoming train. He died at the scene.
The train ended at Gandrungmangu station to report the incident to local police.
“Our members who received reports from the station immediately went to the scene with the medical team of the Gandrungmangu Health Center to evacuate the body of the victim,” Subagyo said.
A medical examination found the victim suffered a broken neck and shoulder, a tear wound around 15 centimetres long on the left leg and abrasions to the face.
Investigators suspect the 150 centimetre tall victim had suffered mental illness due to his appearance, including dishevelled hair and that he was found wearing only a pair of tattered white shorts.
A similar incident occurred in April this year when a ninth grader at a local junior high school in Cilacap was killed by a Purwojaya 59 train.
Rifki Ade Saputra, 16-years-old, had been spotted by two witnesses sitting in the middle of the rail track at 5 a.m. The witnesses reported they shouted at him to move, but Saputra did not heed the warning. When the pair returned to the track some time later, they found Saputra dead with both of his legs broken. Police investigators found traces of bootleg alcohol at the scene.
The remains of the unidentified victim have been handed over to the Gandrungmangu village government for burial.
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Image credits: Kompas