Sleeping on the sleepers

What does it mean to be born lucky? A man from a small town in Belarus can take it to mean falling asleep on railway lines, having a train pass over your head and staying safe and sound throughout!

In the Brest Province of Belarus a man in a state of alcoholic intoxication fell asleep on train tracks. The man was so drunk that even the train that passed over him could not awaken him from his stupor.

According to local newspaper “Respublika”, the engineer of the train noticed the man and tried for some time to get the drunkard off the sleepers by honking at him, but the man would just not wake up.

The engineer did not have enough time to stop the train, but the souse appeared to receive no injuries at all when the train passed over. He was dragged aside by the engineer and the train continued on its journey.

When police arrived on the scene the alcoholic was nowhere to be seen. The police are now looking for him in order to fine him for a violation of the rules of conduct on a railway.

This is not the only instance of an alternative form of sleeping rough in Belarus. At the beginning of March 2008 a citizen of a small town in south-west Belarus also fell asleep on railway tracks. She, much like the man, was not awoken by the train that passed several centimeters over her head. The transit police refrained from fining the drunken lady as the accident happened on the eve of International Women’s Day.