A young man was killed while trying to collect mangoes blown off by the Nor’wester, in a suspected electrocution near Prinsep Ghat along the Hooghly.
The man’s identity remained unknown till late in the evening. A senior police officer said the initial probe suggested he lived on a nearby pavement.
There was also little clarity on the exact time. Based on witness accounts, police sources placed the time between 2.30pm and 3pm, when winds were strongest.
The man was trying to pick mangoes under a tree along the Circular Railway tracks near the Sea Explorers’ Institute, said a police source.
“He collected some mangoes and went to keep them in a bag. When he returned a second time, a piercing clap of thunder was followed by a flash and a scream,” said a source at the Sea Explorers’ Institute.
A tree was uprooted, and a branch fell on the overhead wire above the tracks, which went up in flames, according to some witnesses.
The man was found slumped on the ground.
Some TV news outlets showed a man identifying himself as a railway doctor telling reporters that the “man was dead and the reason would be known after a post-mortem”.
The spokesperson for Eastern Railway said he had no information on the cause of death.
“The moment an overhead wire snaps and hits the ground, the line trips. To have been electrocuted, the wire should touch a person before hitting the ground,” said a railway official.
The man was declared “brought dead” at hospital, police said.
A team from police, railways and fire services was still clearing debris around 6.30pm. Train services between Dum Dum and Majerhat were disrupted for hours.