A railway union strike in Sri Lanka leaves tens of thousands of commuters stranded

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A railway union strike stopped most trains across Sri Lanka on Wednesday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers to brave the few dangerously overcrowded trains that kept running or be stranded at the station.

The Station Masters’ Union launched the strike to demand that vacancies be filled and other administrative issues be resolved.

Hundreds of scheduled train journeys were canceled Wednesday due to the strike, leaving the very few trains that ran jam-packed with passengers. Local TV stations showed people risking their lives to get to school and work, barely hanging on to the sides of the train while balancing on footboards made slippery by the rain.

Some of the passengers opted to simply go back home.