Migrant worker, on 1000-km cycle trip to get home, killed in accident

A migrant worker from Delhi, trying to reach his hometown in East Champaran in Bihar on a cycle, a distance of over 1,000 km, died after being hit by a car.

Sagheer Ansari, 26, met with the accident in Lucknow. He started the journey with seven of his friends on May 5 as all of them had lost their jobs due to the COVID lockdown.

It took them five days to cover half the distance, till Lucknow. As per sn NDTV report, the group was having food on a road divider at 10 am on Saturday when the car rammed Ansari. A tree on the concrete partition saved others, reports said.

Those travelling with Ansari said the car driver initially offered to pay them some money as compensation but then refused and left. Ansari was rushed to a hospital where he died while under treatment.

The body was sent home in an ambulance, the fare for which was arranged by a non-profit organisation and some political workers. The police registered a case against the ‘unidentified’ driver.

Lakhs of migrant workers have been moving across the country to reach their hometowns and villages after the stranded across the country for weeks because of the nationwide lockdown, many without jobs and money. The centre last allowed their travel to their hometowns and villages. The railways is running special migrant trains to ferry them on a paid basis. However, thousands are still walking and cycling their way home.

Last week, sixteen migrant workers in a group of 20 were killed after a cargo train ran over them while they were sleeping on the tracks in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad.