Standing at the door's edge and initially not holding on to anything, her grave mistake was to casually lean out of the train from the open door - just as a speeding train whizzed past
While it is true that Mumbai local trains are the lifeline of the city, they also claim a number of lives each year. Apart from rampant foot-boarding, accidents also occur when people try to cross the tracks directly, instead of using foot-over bridges. Or when they attempt to perform stunts on moving trains.
However, there are also several examples where people have met an untimely end or been severely injured due to nothing more than a casual oversight.
Recently, in two separate incidents, two women travelling on local trains in Mumbai might have suffered a dreadful fate, if not for the kindness of strangers.
In the first, a viral video shows a young woman narrowly escaping death despite falling off a running suburban train in Mumbai, thanks to the quick reaction of her fellow passengers.
Standing at the door’s edge and initially not holding on to anything, the teenaged girl’s grave mistake was to casually lean out of the train from the open door – just as a speeding train whizzed past on the parallel track.
The surprise caused her to lose her footing and tumble out of the train.
Luckily, other passengers standing near the door were mindful enough to hold her and pull her back onto the train in a split second.
It isn’t clear where and when this took place, but the logo on the train on the parallel track points to the Central Railways in Mumbai.
While it is amazing that this teen’s life was saved, it is yet another lesson to those who imagine there is no danger in ‘foot-boarding’, a.k.a standing at the very edge of the train’s open doors.
And just in case anyone imagines such things only happen to careless teenagers, this is hardly the case. In another incident from last week, 23-year-old Puja Jagtap fell off a moving train.
Jagtap, who is four months pregnant, was on a Mumbai fast local. Just as the train was approaching Bandra, she stood close to the door. Unfortunately, she soon felt giddy and fell off the train – on to the tracks.
She was thankfully saved by an alert cop, who was travelling in the same coach.
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The cop, Rupali Mejari from Jogeshwari Police Station, and Prerna Shah, a college student, ran towards Puja, held her by the arms and legs and carried her to safety.
A heavily bleeding Puja was then taken to Bhabha hospital at Bandra, where a surgeon operated on her right away. Her husband, who arrived later, could not stop thanking the cops. She has been shifted to a private hospital and is currently under observation.
So whatever your age – keep away from open doors when travelling on a train!
Featured Image Credit: Screen Grab from this video.
(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)
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