Two labourers working on the tracks between Mourigram and Santragachhi stations were run over by the Howrah-bound Purulia Express around 11am on Friday.

Around 30 labourers, hired by contractor Ratan Guha Roy, were replacing the sleepers and laying stone chips along the tracks between the two stations of South Eastern Railway.

Around 11am, the labourers saw the train approaching but thought it would stop at the nearest signal post.

The train did not stop. While the others managed to flee, Dilip Hazra, 32, and Nemai Mandal, 45, were mowed down.

The labourers stopped work after the mishap, demanding compensation for the families of Hazra and Mandal, both Uluberia residents.

The railway authorities are clueless how the accident occurred. “Those killed were not railway employees,” said a spokesperson.

“We have kept the bodies in the GRP morgue. They will be sent for post-mortem on Saturday,” said Animesh Chakraborty, the officer-in-charge of GRP, Santragachhi.

Contractor Guha Roy said the families of the victims would be paid Rs 50,000 each.