Earlier today, Hindustan Times released a report stating that at least 80 migrant workers have lost their lives while travelling via Shramik trains. The trains were launched on the 1st of May, after more than a month of lockdown, and till the 27th of May, 3,840 have been run, transporting around five million migrant workers back home.

Jansatta

Now, we do not have the details of all the 80 people who perished to the lockdown but for the one we do have, we are sharing with you. 

1. A four-and-a-half-year-old, Ishaq died while his father hunted for milk at a railway station. 

Accompanied by wife Zeba and son Ishaq, Maqsood Alam had started the journey hoping to reach his native place in West Champaran district on Monday, the day Eid would be celebrated. But Ishaq fell ill on the way, allegedly due to the heat. 

The child passed away at the station while his father desperately hunted for some milk he believed would save him. 

Deccan Herald

2. The body of a 38-year-old migrant worker was discovered in the toilet of a Shramik Special train at Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi Railway Station on Thursday evening.

According to reports, the man had died days ago. It was only after the train completed a round-trip that the body was discovered by railway workers while sanitising the coaches.

The man was identified as Mohan Lal Sharma, who had left Mumbai and reached Jhansi on May 23. He had then got on a special train for Gorakhpur, which is around 70 km from Basti district – his native place.

NDTV

3. In Bihar’s Danapur, the body of 70-year-old Basisth Mahato, a heart patient, was taken out of the Mumbai-Darbhanga train.

According to reports, Mahato was returning with his family after treatment in Mumbai and died between Maihar and Satna

Prag News

4. Two migrants were found dead in a train at a Varanasi railway station on Wednesday morning.

The train had arrived at the Manduadih station of Varanasi from Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 8.21 am. According to reports, the bodies of Dashrath Prajapati and Ram Ratan were found by GRP personnel. It was later found that both of them had serious medical issues. 

India TV

5. Three migrant workers on board special Shramik Special trains were found dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia and Kanpur while the fourth died in the hospital. 

According to reports, one of the victims was 58-year-old Bhushan Singh, who was found dead in the Surat-Hajipur Shramik special train in Ballia. 

In Kanpur, two middle-aged migrants were found dead in the Jhansi-Goraphpur Shramik trains. One of them was reportedly suffering from diabetes and had breathing problems. 

New Indian Express

6. A child was seen trying to wake his mother at a railways station but she had already passed away. 

We have all seen countless pictures and videos of this heartbreaking tragedy. The woman in question was 35-year-old Uresh Khatoon. The Railways attributed her death to heart surgery. 

7. The body of Sheikh Salim (45) was found aboard the Vapi-Deen Dayal Upadhayay Junction Shramik Special train when it reached Sagar station.

According to reports, his body has been kept at the district hospital for post mortem and the testing for coronavirus. 

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8. A 10-month-old baby along with a migrant worker died on board Shramik trains on Thursday. 

The 10-month-old boy suffering from fever and breathing difficulties. The family has alleged that the railways did not arrange for a doctor despite their repeated pleas, News18 reported. 

News18

Railways has claimed that most of these 80 people who had perished on the trains had pre-existing conditions as opposed to the allegations that they died of heat, hunger and thirst.