HUBBALLI: A 15-year-old boy lost both his legs when he came under a moving train while flying a kite in Hubballi. The incident occurred four days ago (Thursday) at the Giriraj Nagar area in the city. Sagar Jalagar is now battling for his life at the intensive care unit of the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).
His condition is said to be critical, and chances of his survival are bleak, according to the doctors. Sagar and his friends were flying kites on the day of Ayudha pooja.
When the string of one of the kites snapped, the boy tried to catch it while running along the tracks, but fell down accidentally and was run over by the train. The train driver is said to have applied the emergency brakes, but the boy’s legs came under the wheels.
Sagar is the only son of Krishna, a daily wage worker, and Laxmi, who runs a small vegetable shop. The couple also has two daughters. Sagar is a student of Class 8 at a government school.
His distraught parents and relatives are now running pillar to post in Hubballi in search of blood. They have already arranged for 42 units, but Sagar needs more due to continuous bleeding, according to the doctors.
The boy’s uncle Ramesh Jalgar said, “We do not know what made him go towards the tracks. Some locals say that he was flying kite on a hillock near the Journalists’ Colony, lost balance and fell on the tracks. When we reached the spot, he was lying unconscious in a pool of blood. He was immediately rushed to KIMS Hospital. Doctors are not disclosing the state of his condition.”
An official from the Government Railway Police said the incident is heart-wrenching.
“However, it will be considered as a trespassing case, and the department is not at all responsible. The boy might have come on the tracks suddenly. It was not possible to stop a train suddenly. We have deep sympathy for the boy,” the official added.