PNR train runs over man sleeping on rail tracks

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–A drunk man sleeping on the rail tracks of the Philippine National Railways in Makati City was killed on Tuesday morning after he was run over by a passing train, police said.

Police identified the fatality as Rolando Diaz, 37, a construction worker residing in Barangay Pio Del Pilar,  Makati City.

Senior Police Officer 1 Rommel Salvador, investigator on case, said that prior to the accident, witnesses saw the victim heavily drunk and lying between the tracks of the PNR near Arnaiz Avenue and Osmeña Highway.

“One scavenger in the area tried to wake up the drunk man at the sight of the approaching train. But the man wouldn’t move,” Salvador said over the phone.

Salvador said around 5 a.m., the operator of the train Norman Bajaro, 26, did not stop for Diaz and continued moving.

“He said he did not see the sleeping man nor realized immediately after the incident that the train had killed a man,” the police investigator said.

The train driver only learned about the incident when security guards of the PNR discovered the victim’s body three hours later.