Two first-year BSc Nursing students hailing from Kerala were killed after being run over by a speeding Vande Bharat Express train near Chikkabanavara Railway Station on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Sunday, November 24.
The victims were identified as Sterin Elza Shaji (19) and Justin Joseph (20), students at a private nursing college in the city and residents of a paying guest accommodation nearby. Railway Police said the incident occurred around 2.35 pm when the Belagavi-bound Vande Bharat Express was passing through the section.
Investigators said the students were reportedly crossing the railway track while returning to their accommodation when they came under the high-speed train. Officers noted that the train had already left the station and “had picked up pace by the time the students were hit.” The impact killed both instantly, with police describing their bodies as “severely dismembered.”
Authorities are yet to determine whether the deaths were accidental or an attempt to die by suicide. Officials are “verifying CCTV camera footage while checking with the deceased’s family and friends to ascertain the cause.” A senior railway police official told reporters that investigators are reviewing all available footage “to establish whether the incident was a case of misjudgement while crossing or if any other angle needs to be probed.”
The Bengaluru Rural Railway Police Station and Yeshwanthpur Railway Police have registered an Unnatural Death Report (UDR) and initiated a detailed inquiry. The bodies have been shifted to MS Ramaiah Hospital, and the families of the deceased have arrived in Bengaluru for further formalities.
Railway officials have also launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.