WATCH: Restless migrants breach barricades at railway stations to escape COVID test

The district administration of Ranchi, Jharkhand, failed to control swelling crowds at the local railway station (Hatia) as hundreds of migrant labourers broke police barricades to avoid COVID-19 testing.

People coming from Maharashtra and other states to Bihar, escaping Covid tests like this at the Railway station.

This is footage of the 3rd wave hitting the shores. pic.twitter.com/zlnbmptr9m

— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) April 17, 2021

The incident happened on Friday (April 16) morning when two special trains carrying migrants arrived at the Hatia station from Surat and Mumbai respectively. Approximately, 2,500 people got down at the station in a gap of three hours.

Also read: With belongings, migrants go to railway station daily hoping to reach home

The train from Mumbai reached around 3 pm. A state health department team was ready at the railway station to test passengers for COVID-19 while the police had put barricades. The only thing missing was testing kits. The migrant labourers had to wait for about three hours. Getting restless, they finally pushed the barricades and fled the railway station.

Around the same time, i.e. at 5.30 pm, the train from Surat arrived and passengers from this train escaped too.

Also read: ‘I can lift 50 kgs’: 80-year-old porter helps migrants for free; wins hearts

The incident has put a question mark on the Ranchi district administration’s ability to control the spread of the highly contagious infection.

Chaos at Buxar railway station

The scene at Buxar railway station in Bihar was no different when a train carrying migrant labourers from Pune arrived on Friday night.

A video of the chaos has now gone viral.