Man dies in rush to catch train

The haste to secure a seat in the general coach of the train to his home cost the 36-year-old small-time businessman, Bhagwan Porwal, his life. HT reports.

The haste to secure a seat in the general coach of the train to his home cost the 36-year-old small-time businessman, Bhagwan Porwal, his life. According to BS Gujjar, additional DCP (railways), the victim died after he slipped between a footboard of the general coach and the platform and got badly crushed after the moving train dragged him for three to four metres before coming to a halt.

HT Image

Porwal had to catch the 12416-Hazrat Nizamuddin-Indore Intercity Express train from the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station on Wednesday at 9.30pm. However, some fellow passengers and eyewitnesses alleged that delay in medical attention and unavailability of reserve rescue team at the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station resulted in the unfortunate demise of the victim.

Notably, there was no emergency doctors available at the railway station to handle the emergency case. No effort was made to call the emergency doctor or an ambulance even when the rescue operation continued for one-and-a-half hour.

“Porwal, a native of Kota, Rajasthan, was trying to step on the footboard which was already occupied by two-three passengers. He suffered multiple fractures and was rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre. He died during the treatment,” said Gujjar.

A tea vendor at the platform said that Porwal had already lost his conscious when he was being rescued. “As there were no stretchers available with the railway authority, he was put on a hand cart and ferried out. In the absence of an ambulance, he was rushed to the hospital in a PCR van,” he said. “Everybody has to move within the boundaries of discipline. Level crossings are usually closed. Many a times, the guard at the crossing is beaten up to open the gates. Within 15 days, two such instances have taken place,” said railway minister Dinesh Trivedi.