India: migrant workers victims of numerous road accidents during confinement

Text by: Côme Bastin Follow

Accidents and fatalities pile up on India's roads, where many migrant workers return to their countryside on foot. Thirty of them died in two accidents, Saturday May 16.

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From our correspondent in India,

It was 3 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, when two trucks carrying migrant workers collided on the roads of Uttar Pradesh, in the north of India. The toll is heavy: 24 dead and more than 30 injured. On Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reacted by expressing his "  condolences  " before this "  tragic accident  ".

This drama is unfortunately far from isolated. Suddenly deprived of employment by the confinement linked to the coronavirus pandemic , without shelter or food, there are millions wanting to return to their countryside, often on foot, sometimes in makeshift transport, exposing themselves to danger on Indian roads. . 

More than 150 victims since the start of confinement

A few hours after the accident, five other migrants were killed on board a truck in Madhya Pradesh. Just this week, 15 others died in accidents on the roads of northern India.

In total, more than 150 migrants have been killed since the start of confinement on March 24, according to a study by the NGO for road safety SaveLife. 

A partial resumption of rail traffic has been initiated to allow migrants to move. But confusion reigns because these trains are taken by storm and many travelers are unable to obtain or pay for their tickets.

► Read also  : Coronavirus in India: migrant workers, sacrificed from confinement

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• India
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