Johannesburg, July 22 (IANS) A South African teen was killed when his daredevil stunt of leaping on and off a moving train went horribly wrong, media reported on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old was on his way to Orlando High School in South Africa on Tuesday when his train surfing turned fatal — he fell onto the tracks and his head was chopped off under the wheels.
“He was jumping in and out of the train when he slipped and fell in between the platform and the train onto the tracks at Chiawelo railway station in Gauteng, Johannesburg. He had multiple injuries,” IOL news quoted Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi as saying.
“It was a group of boys surfing, and unfortunately one of them fell onto the tracks and his head was chopped off,” he added.
Authorities have for some years been grappling with the problem of train surfing, which has become a popular pastime among the youth. Such has been its appeal among the youth that some of them have bonded into rival groups to compete against one another.
Some surf on top of the trains’ carriage roofs, risking being electrocuted by the high-voltage power lines overhead. Mulaudzi added that they had a similar case just last week.
“We had another schoolchild in Mayfair who died while doing this. It’s a trend that’s coming up and we want to urge them to refrain from it,” Mulaudzi said.