Russian tourist dies in Sri Lanka after leaning out of train for photo

The Russian tourist was on the Podi Menike train, which covers a 300km-long scenic route between Colombo Fort and Badulla. PHOTO: SRI LANKA RAILWAYS/FACEBOOK via The Straits Times/Asia News Network

A Russian tourist in Sri Lanka, who had leaned out from a train carriage for a photo, died after smashing into a rock and falling off the train.

According to Sri Lankan news site Daily Mirror, 53-year-old Olga Perminova was on the famed Podi Menike train, which covers a 300km-long scenic route between Colombo Fort and Badulla.

Local police said Ms Perminova knocked against a rock, fell off the train and suffered severe injuries.

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The train, headed towards Colombo Fort, was between the Badulla and Hali Ela railway stations when the incident occurred.

Photos of Ms Perminova right before the tragedy show her in a pink dress and hanging from the train footboard. Following the fall, she was given emergency treatment but reportedly died in hospital from her head injuries.

She had been traveling with a Russian tour group, and arrangements are under way to repatriate her body to Russia.

Ms Perminova was reportedly a grandmother originally from Saratov in south-western Russia, and worked for a security company in Moscow, according to British news site The Sun.

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Her death came after two women died on a train track at Anuradhapura New Town railway station in northern Sri Lanka in December 2024. They were struck by a train while taking a selfie on the train track.

The two women were part of a group that was attending a taekwondo tournament at the time. One of them was an 18-year-old student, and the other the 37-year-old mother of another student participant, reported Daily Mirror.