Speeding train mows down 72 sheep

Madurai: Train 12668 Nagercoil - Chennai Egmore weekly special that crossed the Vadamadurai Railway Station in Dindigul district on Friday night mowed down 72 sheep that had strayed into the tracks, police sources said.
The flock of sheep consisting of about 75, owned by shepherd Muniandi from Ramanathapuram district, was kept in a kidai (temporary pen) set up near the Vadamadurai station.Local farmers allow shepherds to graze sheep in farmlands as sheep droppings enrich soil. Muniandi had set up two pens with 75 sheep in each on a farmland near the station. However, one of the structures collapsed during the heavy rain on Friday night. The flock, which came out of the enclosure, began looking for a place to escape the rain and ended up on the railway track. Train 12668, which passed through the station at 10.30pm, mowed down 72 sheep. Many were reduced to heaps of flesh. Carcasses were strewn along the tracks.
"The animals apparently were attracted by the lights at the railway station and ended up on the tracks. We informed the shepherds in the morning and they cleaned the carcasses. Four of the sheep, which were injured, were taken by the shepherds," a police officer at the Dindigul Railway Police Station told TOI.
The worth of the herd was estimated at 3 lakh, according to the shepherd.