PALAKKAD: In a tragic rail accident on Friday evening near Shoranur railway station, four individuals from Tamil Nadu were killed when the Thiruvananthapuram-bound Kerala Express train struck them.

As per the primary information, the deceased were collecting plastic and old iron parts near the railway bridge near the Nila River.

“The deceased belonged to Salem in Tamil Nadu and it is learnt that all the deceased were part-time sanitation workers,” said a source from the railway police officers. It also doubted that another person who was part of the team, has fallen off the bridge to the river and efforts are on to find him and body parts of the deceased, according to the source.

Bodies of three have been recovered from the bridge area. Sources said that two deceased men bore the name Lakshmanan and the women were identified as Valli and Rani.