Snakes were spotted by passengers on the Thiruvananthapuram-Nizamuddin Express. (representative image)
Kozhikode, Kerala:
The Thiruvananthapuram-Nizamuddin Express had to stop for over an hour at Kozhikode in Kerala to search for a snake sighted by passengers in a train compartment, but the reptile was not found.
Railway sources told news agency Press Trust of India that the passengers informed the ticket checker about the snake among the luggage under the lower berth in the S5 compartment of the train soon after the train left from Tirur station.
Sources told the Press Trust of India that as soon as the news of the snake outbreak spread, the passengers aboard the train panicked.
As the communication reached the railway officials at Kozhikode station, they arranged for forest department experts to locate the snake.
At around 10:15 pm at Kozhikode station, all the passengers of the compartment in which the snake was sighted got off the train and a thorough search was conducted by two snake catchers arranged by forest officials.
However, the snake could not be caught, railway sources told PTI.
Quoting snake catchers, railway sources said the reptile, as seen in a photograph taken by a passenger, was just a rat snake and may have escaped or was found next to the compartment. hid in the hole.
Sources told the Press Trust of India that the train resumed its journey after sealing the hole by midnight.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)