A day after five passengers, including a Government Railway Police (GRP) constable, died and six others were injured after falling from overcrowded local trains in Maharashtra's Thane district, an eye witness has made a shocking claim. Dipak Shirsat has said that some lives could have been saved had the train stopped after some passengers pulled the chain. Dipak lost his friend Ketan Saroj (23) in the accident.
While talking to reporters at Thane Civil Hospital, Dipak said, “At the curvature near Mumbra, a bag worn by someone hanging on a footboard of the train coming from the opposite direction brushed against passengers on our train. People started falling one after another. Ketan was one of them.”
He added that the passengers in the compartment pulled the emergency chain at least three times, but the train failed to halt. The train eventually halted at Thane station, which was nearly 12 km away from the accident site.
“If the train had stopped when we pulled the chain, some lives could have been saved,” he revealed.
Dipak said that he didn’t listen to Ketan who wanted him also to stand at the footboard. “Ketan, who was at the footboard of the train, called me twice to stand near the door with him, but I remained inside,” Dipak said.
According to reports, the passengers were travelling on the footboard on a local train from Kasara. Other passengers involved in the fatal accident were travelling on another train going towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). They collided with each other and fell.
The railway officials are planning to automatic door closer facilities for all these rakes in a phased manner.
