Deaths Due to Lockdown in India: More Than 25 People, Mostly Migrant Workers, Lost Lives Due to Coronavirus Shutdown-Related Reasons, Say Reports

New Delhi, March 30: India has witnessed at least 27 deaths related to the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus, according to reports. Soon after the 21-day lockdown came into effect from March 25, thousands of migrant workers left for their native places on foot, alleging joblessness. According to various reports, at least 27 people have lost their lives - some of them in accidents while reaching to their home states, others due to hunger and one after being assaulted by cops. Coronavirus Outbreak Live News Updates on March 30.

According to a Times of India report, a 39-year-old migrant worker, who set off on foot from Delhi to his hometown in Madhya Pradesh, collapsed and died on March 27 after walking around 200 km. Identified as Ranveer Singh, the deceased would deliver orders for a restaurant in Delhi. He had left for his hometown after the restaurant was shut after the lockdown. In Haryana, three workers and two children, who were heading home on foot following the lockdown, were crushed to death on March 29. Coronavirus Death Toll in India Rises to 33 After One More COVID-19 Patient Dies in Madhya Pradesh.

Another road accident in Telangana's Hyderabad claimed eight lives late on March 27. The deceased include seven migrant workers and an eight-month-old baby. They were returning home in Karnataka’s Raichur district, The Indian Express reported. On March 27, 11-year-old Rahul Musahar died of hunger at Jawahar Tola in Bihar's Bhojpur, reports said. Many alleged that the ongoing lockdown left his family members jobless and they could not buy food.

A Twitter Thread on Deaths Due to Coronavirus Lockdown:

On March 29, four migrants, who were returning from Bhillad on the Maharashtra Gujarat border to Vasai, were killed after being run over by a truck at Virar on the Mumbai-Gujarat highway around 3 am. A 62-year-old man died in Surat in Gujarat on March 27 after walking from a hospital to his house for around 8 km as he could not find any means of transport due to the lockdown, The Indian Express reported.

In West Bengal's Howrah, a 32-year-old man who had gone out to buy milk during the lockdown, died after he was assaulted by cops. While police denied that the victim, Lal Swami, was thrashed, his wife told ABP Ananda that he faced police lathicharge when the personnel were clearing a gathering on the streets. In Kerala, a 70-year-old woman died after the ambulance carrying her got stuck in a jam following the lockdown.

In another incident related to the lockdown, Kerala resident Abdul Hamid, 60, died of a heart attack late on March 26 because Karnataka police did not allow his nephew to take him to the hospital, The News Indian Express reported. The deceased's nephew Ibrahim Baba tried to take him to a medical college at Deralkatte in Mangalore, just 12km from their house. But Karnataka police refused to open the gate, leading to Hamid's death.

In Tamil Nadu's Theni, four people died in a forest fire after they were forced to use a forest path on March 24, The Hindu reported. The regular road was shut soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced nationwide lockdown from March 25. While the government has not documented these deaths as related to the lockdown, critics say lack of planning before imposing shutdown led to these tragedies.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2020 04:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).