Three vendors were mowed down by a train on Wednesday night in East Midnapore’s Panskura where commuters were forced to walk on railway tracks as many roads were inundated for over a month.

The three, including two women, were run over near the Raghunathbari station around 9pm on Wednesday. Jaydev Santra, 65, and Rinku Bhowmik, 48, were among the three deceased persons. The third body remains unidentified.

Sources said the local train from Haldia to Panskura had reached Raghunathbari about two hours late on Wednesday night. Several passengers were walking home on the railway tracks after getting off the train.

At that time, a train from Panskura was going to Haldia. Hearing the noise of the train, the rest managed to get off the tracks, but the trio were unable to.

Santra and Bhowmik used to buy fruits from Panskura and go to Haldia by morning train to sell them. They used to return home by the evening train.

On Thursday morning, villagers blocked the railway tracks for some time. As the floodwaters have remained practically stagnant for over a month, they blamed the local administration for the accident and laid siege to the residence of Purnima Goswami, the chief of the BJP-run Raghunathbari gram panchayat.

Amalendu Kar, a resident, said: “The floods here took place in the last week of September. Since then, the area has been under water. This is almost November.”

“Although the water receded a little at times, the area kept getting inundated again and again by rain. One has to wade through waist-deep water to get trains from the Raghunathbari station,” he added.

“Many are forced to walk up and down the tracks instead. That is why this tragedy took place.”

Floodwaters in Panskura are supposed to go to the Rupnarayan through the Soya Dighi canal. Because of the lack of dredging and other upkeep measures of the canal over a long time, the area has remained flooded.

Purnima Goswami said the anger of the residents of the area was justified.

“Roads submerged for more than a month have made life miserable for the people. Roads to the railway station and the bus stand are still under water. Despite our repeated demands to the (district) administration, no arrangement has been made for water drainage,” she said.

East Midnapore district magistrate Purnendu Majhi visited the flooded area a few days ago. “The Soya Dighi canal will be dredged soon as a permanent solution to the inundation,” he said.