Four deer and a newborn fawn were killed after a goods train ran over them near Ketchki railway station in a tiger reserve in Jharkhand on Monday morning.

“The accident happened about half-a-kilometre away from Ketchki station sometime between 5.30am and 6.30am this morning,” said Kumar Ashish, deputy director of Palamau Tiger Reserve in Latehar district. He said the area falls under the tiger reserve and witnesses frequent movement of wildlife.

There were one male and three female deer, he said. He said one doe was pregnant and delivered a fawn from the impact of the accident, taking the number of casualties to five.

“We conducted an on the spot inquiry and also spoke to the railway authorities at divisional level,” Ashish said, adding that they also demanded the names of the driver and guard of the trains that passed the area at that time.

The station falls under Dhanbad division of East Central Railway and the trains are expected to run at a low speed of 25km per hour while crossing the area under the reserve.

“We have to initiate legal action against the offenders under the wildlife act,” Ashish said, adding the railway provided them names of the drivers and guards of five trains that passed through the area around that time.

Asked how they could fix responsibility, he said it is a matter of further investigation to ascertain which particular train hit the deer.

“The area being a part of PTR, the movement of wildlife is natural and the trains are run at limited speed to avoid any such accident,” he said, adding that elephants also move freely in the area.

There are two railway tracks running through the area and the laying of a third track was also taken up, causing worry among wildlife enthusiasts that it would facilitate increased train moment affecting free movement of wildlife.

Asked about it, Ashish said they have proposed a meeting with the senior divisional level officer of the railways to discuss the matter.

The 9-km track between Chhipadohar and Hehegara stations is the most vulnerable stretch for wildlife as it runs through the core area of PTR, he said. “It would be best if that stretch is shifted to the fringes of PTR,” Ashish said, adding that it would help all concerned.

While the railways can run trains at higher speed, the wildlife should also be able to move about without any risk of getting hit, he said.