New Delhi: A video going viral shows a man in Kerala’s Kannur district narrowly avoiding an oncoming train. The footage captures the man lying flat on the tracks as a train passes overhead, with him remaining still until the train has gone by. Once the train passed, he stood up and walked away unharmed.

The incident occurred around 5 pm on Monday between Kannur and Chirakkal railway stations, when the Mangalore-Thiruvananthapuram train passed through the area, according to news agency PTI.

Sreejith, a local resident who witnessed the incident, recorded the footage and immediately alerted Railway Police. After the video went viral, the police identified the man as 56-year-old Pavithran.

A railway police official confirmed that Pavithran’s statement had been recorded. Pavithran told police that he had been talking on his phone and did not notice the approaching train. Realizing the danger too late, he quickly lay down on the tracks to avoid being hit. 

“We were also surprised by the video. He survived because of his small size,” the police official said to PTI. 

Pavithran, however, clarified, “I wasn’t drunk; I lay down to save my life.” A cleaner for a school vehicle, he admitted he was “still shaken” by the close call and had not fully recovered from the fear of the incident.