NEW DELHI, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Nearly three dozen migrant laborers have died over the past one week in various parts of India, while walking long distances to their home states for lack of transport facilities due to the lockdown in effect from March 25. While some were crushed to death by a train, others died in as many as three road mishaps. As many as 14 laborers died and more than 50 injured in two separate road mishaps in India on Wednesday night, confirmed local officials to Xinhua via phone. In the first accident, at least eight persons died and 48 injured when the truck they were traveling in collided with a bus in central state of Madhya Pradesh. The accident took place in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh, said a local police official. The deceased were migrant laborers and belonged to northern state of Uttar Pradesh. They were returning home in the ill-fated truck from southwestern state of Maharashtra during the current lockdown imposed to fight COVID-19. In a second mishap, six migrant laborers died and four others injured when a speeding bus mowed them down in northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The mishap occurred in the states Muzaffarnagar district. The deceased migrant laborers were walking on the road to their homes in eastern state of Bihar from northern state of Punjab when the speeding bus ran over them, killing six on the spot and injuring four others. After the mishap, the bus-driver managed to flee the spot. The injured were admitted to a local government hospital in Muzaffarnagar, said a local government official. Many similar incidents, involving deaths of migrant laborers on their way to their homes, have taken place in different parts of the country over the past few weeks. On May 8, 16 migrant laborers died and four others injured in southwestern state of Maharashtra when an oil train-tanker moved over them while they were sleeping over the railway tracks. Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, they were on their way home walking down the railway tracks when they got exhausted and decided to sleep, thinking trains were not allowed to run during the lockdown. Two days later, on May 10, at least five migrant laborers died and over 10 injured in Madhya Pradesh when the truck they were traveling in overturned. The mishap had occurred near Narsinghpur city in the state on National Highway No. 44. Migrant laborers walking down the roads for long distances, up to 800 to 1,000 km, can be often seen in the country amid the lockdown. They are also seen try to board trucks carrying essential materials in a bid to reach home. Migrant laborers particularly from states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, normally move to other parts of the country in search of jobs, including construction and agricultural activities, in states like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, etc. Since the lockdown was imposed on March 25, they were rendered jobless as almost all manufacturing activities came to a grinding halt. With all transport services, including trains and busses, suspended across the country, they decided to walk down the roads in a bid to reach their home states.
