Passenger falls into gap alighting from moving train, saved by RPF

The alertness of two Railway Protection Force (RPF) policemen helped save the life of a passenger who fell into the gap between the train and platform while trying to get down from a moving train early Saturday morning

The alertness of two Railway Protection Force (RPF) policemen helped save the life of a passenger who fell into the gap between the train and platform while trying to get down from a moving train early Saturday morning. The incident underscores how risky it is for commuters to try and catch a running train or get down from a moving train, that too when there is rush to travel from Pune railway station owing to the ongoing Ganesh festival. While the said passenger was immediately pulled out of the gap by the alert RPF policemen, RPF police have appealed to the public not to take such risks.

Passengers rush at Pune railway station on Sunday. (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

As per the information shared by the RPF Pune division, the Hussain Sagar Express train number 12702 (Hyderabad to Mumbai) arrived at platform number 3 of Pune railway station at 1.15 am on September 3 where it took a five-minute halt. Just as the train resumed its journey towards Mumbai, a passenger named G Krushna tried to get down from one of the coaches only to lose his balance and fall into the gap between the train and platform. Fortunately, on-duty RPF sub-inspector S K Sharma, along with assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Prafulla Kharche, saw Krushna and pulled him out of the gap in the nick of time. The incident took place over a few seconds during which time, Krushna’s life was saved.

B S Raghuvanshi, RPF senior police inspector, Pune railway station, said, “The passenger whom our policemen rescued was coming from Hyderabad to Pune but he fell asleep during the journey and missed getting down at Pune railway station. When he realised that the train had started pulling out of Pune station, he tried to get down and fell into the gap between the train and the platform.”

“Earlier too, in June this year, a similar incident occurred when a passenger tried to board a running train and fell into the gap between the train and platform but was pulled out of the gap by our RPF policemen. Given the Ganapati festival rush, we appeal to all passengers not to risk their lives by trying to catch a running train or get down from a moving train. If a passenger misses a train, there is always another train to catch but once a life is lost, there is no second chance,” Raghuvanshi said.

There have been several incidents over the past few years when passengers have tried to board a running train or get down from a moving train only to fall into the gap between the train and platform. While RPF policemen and railway staff have managed to save some lives, many other lives have been lost in this manner.