A 16-year-old boy was run over by a train while recording a TikTok video by standing on railways tracks near Purulia in West Bengal.
Mohammad Noor Ansari, a school dropout, died on the spot, while his friend Saukat Alam suffered injuries when he tried to rescue the former from the speeding Barabhum-Asansol Local on Sunday evening, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday. The boys were workers of a fast-food outlet in Purulia town.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) in Purulia took Mohammad and Saukat to hospital where doctors declared the former dead. “He suffered severe injuries to the head and chest,” said a doctor.
“Mohammad was recording the video with railway track as the backdrop when a speeding train appeared suddenly. I shouted at him to jump off the tracks but he continued recording his video taking the running train as the background,” said Saukat from his hospital bed. “The train hit Mohammad and he flew in the air before collapsing on the ground. His head hit a concrete pole before the collapse,” Saukat, who suffered a fracture in the left leg, added.
TikTok, an iOS and Android social media video app for creating and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos, has become a craze among a section of people, mostly teenagers.
“They sometimes make risky attempts to record videos for TikTok and get more likes and comments. The incident shows how Mohammad was engrossed with his video. He did not notice the train,” said a GRP officer.
