TIRUNELVELI: A passenger on the Nagercoil-Coimbatore train, who was accidentally trapped between an unreserved coach’s footboard and the platform while boarding at Tirunelveli railway station, was rescued after the foot-board and some concrete slabs of the platform were removed by railway staff on Saturday.
The passenger, Kumar (32) from Tiruchendur, sustained injuries in his hips and legs and is undergoing treatment at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital.
According to some passengers, the train had started moving as Kumar was about to board the train. Kumar was forced to jump on board the unreserved coach and in the process fell into the gap between the foot board and the platform. Other passengers sounded the alarm and the railway guard upon notifying the engine driver immediately stopped the train.
The Tirunelveli railway station manager V M Chelladurai, a few railway engineers, constables from the Railway Protection Force and the Railway police, including Sukumar the Railways doctor on duty, rushed to the rescue. They said that Kumar could have easily fallen onto the tracks which would have been fatal but he had the sense to cling to the coach’s railing.
Kumar was taken out only after the engineers dismantled the footboard and the platform slabs between which Kumar was trapped. He was then rushed to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital in a 108 ambulance for treatment to wounds sustained in his hips and legs.
The Nagercoil-Coimbatore passenger train, scheduled to arrive in Tirunelveli railway station at around 9. 40 a.m., arrived late at 11.15 a.m. on Saturday morning. Kumar had purchased a ticket for Madurai from Tirunelveli.