Thane train accident: Lives could have been saved had the train stopped after we pulled the chain, says eye witness

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.