Whitefield railway station (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
BENGALURU: Two teenagers suffered burn injuries and one of them is in critical condition after a suspected freak accident on the tracks of Whitefield Satellite Goods Terminal (SGWF) on Friday night. The duo is suspected to have come in contact with the overhead high-tension electrical wires that power trains, said multiple railway sources.
The 14-year-old girl has sustained 60 per cent burns and is in critical condition, while the boy, 15, has sustained 10 per cent burns, said a senior Government Railway Police officer. The youngsters are neighbours in a posh apartment in Hoodi and had walked down to the goods station. The GRP officer said, “We filed an NCR (non-cognisable report) the same night. The victims are not in a position to speak and their parents too are not giving any information. They are shocked.”
A top Railway Protection Force (RPF) official said a policeman on patrol duty at SGWF rushed near the tracks around 8.45 pm after hearing the screams of the two teenagers. “The boy and the girl were lying next to the railway tracks (loop line) with severe burns. They were rushed to the nearby Vydehi Hospital. The girl was later shifted to the burns ward at St John’s Hospital, while the boy was sent to Manipal Hospital,” said a top RPF officer.
The public are not allowed to enter SGWF and goods trains are stationed here when not in use. A top railway official said four days after the incident there is still no clarity on how the incident occurred. “The overhead wires that power the trains have a capacity of 25 kilovolts, which is extremely high. Any human coming in contact would be reduced to ashes,” he said.
Another official said the wires are 100 per cent safe, certified and high above the ground. “Anyone touching them or coming in close contact with them is openly inviting death,” he added.
An electrical expert said, “It is not possible that electricity would have struck them while they were standing below as railway staff keep working and patrolling below these lines. The two might have, somehow, gone very close to the wire (possibly within a 2-metre distance) and electricity would have passed through them.”
Another possibility is that they might have climbed on top of the goods train and tried to take a selfie. The power above could have struck their mobiles and caused the accident, another official said. But it is difficult to climb a goods train as there are no steps or doors.
GRP is waiting for the statements of the victims to file an FIR. Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh said he was not aware of any such incident. The Safety Department chief did not respond to repeated calls.
