Look both ways: Headphone-clad man run over by train

ISLAMABAD:

Walking right in the middle of a railway track with headphones in his ears, a young day-labourer failed to hear the horn honking on a train barrelling towards him. Muhammad Adeel, 22 from Bhakkar, was listening to loud music on Wednesday when the train hit him from behind. He died on the spot.

Police said the engine driver tried his best to stop the train when he realised Adeel was not reacting to the horn. However, the train did not come to a stop till it was too late. The headphones were still in his ears after the accident.

The Koral police shifted Adeel’s remains to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). The body was turned over to his brother Umair after the autopsy.

Police said the incident occurred near Jinnah Garden in Pakistan Town.

The police suspected that the man was a vagrant or a drug user, before he was identified by his brother. Based on this new evidence, the police ruled out the possibility of suicide.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2012.