(COLOMBO) – A foreign tourist died on the spot after he struck his head on the wall of a tunnel while riding the footboard of a train in central Sri Lanka on Monday, Railway officials said.
They said the victim who was not immediately identified was travelling to the tourist hot spot of Ella when the incident took place at Nanu Oya situated some 161 kilometres from the commercial capital of Colombo.
It was only the other day that senior Railway officials cautioned foreign visitors and locals against riding on the footboard of trains heading for the central mountains where the speed is reduced to a snail’s crawl owing to the hilly terrain.
“This should never be the case and there have been fatalities on earlier occasions as well.
Many foreigners are known to take selfies while riding the footboard and are simply not aware of the danger until it is too late”, one senior official explained.
Unlike in most developed countries the trains operating in this island-nation are primitive in nature where the carriage doors cannot be automatically closed once the train starts moving.
