Sabah secondary student dies after falling off train

She was sitting at door of packed train when a tree branch is believed to have hit her.

This tree branch, poking out of the ground towards the railway track, is believed to have hit the victim’s knee, causing her fall. (Pic courtesy of Beaufort police)

KOTA KINABALU: A Form Three student died of serious injuries after falling off a full train in Beaufort today.

Police said the 1.40pm incident happened at a section of the railway track that was involved in a recent landslide.

A tree branch poking out of the ground towards the track is believed to have hit the knee of the 15-year-old girl, who was sitting at a train door, causing her to fall off.

The girl, Siti Intan Suraya Ambran, and her 19-year-old cousin Norshafika Maulana, had got on the train at the Beaufort station.

She was heading to Tenom, where she was a student of SMK Entabuan.

“The train was full, so they decided to stand at the door,” said Beaufort police chief DSP Azmir Abd Razak.

“Ten minutes into the journey, the cousins decided to sit on the floor because the train had begun to sway with Siti’s knee protruding slightly out of the train.

“Siti sat at one side of the door and her cousin on the other side.”

When they reached Mile 62 of the track, Norshafika heard Siti screaming and saw her falling off the train.

The train then stopped and Norshafika saw her cousin trying to get up.

“A police investigator later arrived and took her on the train to a waiting doctor from the Beaufort hospital, who then confirmed Siti had died,” said Azmir.

“Her body was taken to the Beaufort Hospital for a post-mortem.

“Investigations showed the girl had fallen off the train and was dragged for about 50 metres.” -FMT