A man was killed by a flying cow while urinating beside a railway in a freak accident in India on April 19..The fatality occurred in Alwar, Rajasthan, and happened when the cow was struck by a speeding Vande Bharat train which departed from Kali Mori Gate at around 8.30am..India Today reports that the victim has been identified as Shivdayal Sharma, a former electrician in the Indian Railways who retired in 2000..According to Sharma’s relatives, the train, which can reach speeds of 160 km/h, struck the cow at speed, launching its corpse through the air..Part of its body landed more than 30 metres away from Sharma; however, he was struck by another part, killing him on the spot. His body was sent for a post-mortem later that morning..The Vande Bharat trains have a history of livestock-related incidents, according to India Today..In October 2022, the Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Superfast Express train suffered two collisions in two days with cattle, damaging the carriage..A third collision involving a different Vande Bharat train occurred later that same month, once again with cattle on the tracks in a collision on October 29..The issue of livestock-related railway encroachment prompted Western Railways to erect metal fencing along a 620km-long stretch from Mumbai to Ahmedabad in a bid to reduce the number of accidents.
