Refrain from selfies, stunts near rail tracks: Piyush Goyal

Days after a 22-year-old man from Hyderabad suffered serious injuries while taking selfies on rail tracks, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday made an appeal to people to avoid selfies or stunts near railway tracks.

"In the last few days, I have seen news and videos in which there have been accidents of youth taking selfies or showing stunts near railway tracks. It is very disheartening to know about these accidents. You all are the future of the country and my appeal is to avoid putting your life at risk and stay alert around the railway tracks. Follow the rules, signs and pay attention while approaching railway crossings," he said.

Along with the message, the ministry has also issued a number of posters with references from popular Bollywood songs like "Zindagi maut na banjaye sambhalo yaaron" (Be cautious, life can turn into death) from the film Sarfarosh, accompanied with images of people leaning out of trains.

Another poster has a song "Sun raha hai tu na" (Are you listening) from the film Ashique 2, accompanied with a picture of a young boy with earphones walking on the tracks with the message - "Listening to songs is fine, but not on the tracks."

In the video of the Hyderabad incident, the man identified as Siva is seen standing on the edge of the railway tracks holding up his phone with its front camera facing him and a train can be seen approaching him from behind.

Despite the railway officials are seen cautioning him to move away, he had seen asking them for a minute more.

Another equally disturbing video of a Kashmiri man lying down on a railway track under a running train has gone viral on social media.