Kushinagar accident: Life at level crossing number 45 — Tales of death, calculated risk

The crossing is around 4 km away from Dudahi railway station. Railway officials say four passenger trains ply this stretch daily, while over 14,000 residents of Padraun Mudrai village cross it every day to access a community health centre and a road that leads to Kushinagar.

Read | Thirteen children killed as train hits van at unmanned railway crossing

A woman who lives near the crossing says she witnessed the accident. “I could hear a boy saying, ‘Meri didi ko bacha lo (please save my sister)’… Some time ago, a tractor was hit and the driver died here,” she says.

Shiv Shankar Kushwaha, a representative of the village pradhan, says it was his tractor that had collided with a train at this crossing two years ago. “I had complained to railway officials and sought a proper crossing but nothing happened. There is a railway mitra for this crossing but he is often not around,” he says.