The Hindu : National : Gateman, station master averted bigger tragedy

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Wednesday, Feb 21, 2007
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National

National

Gateman, station master averted bigger tragedy

Many heroic acts even at the cost of self-sacrifice as the train burned

Diwana (Haryana): An alert gateman and prompt action by the station master of the Diwana railway station prevented a greater tragedy on the Samjhauta Express that went up in flames after twin blasts on Sunday night, killing 68 people.

Pawan Kumar, manning the railway crossing near here, heard two explosions on the train as the Samjhauta Express trundled past his cabin in the darkness of the night. Moments later station master of the Diwana station saw two compartments burning and asked the gatemen at the next railway crossing to turn the signal red.

``Pawan Kumar also alerted the driver about the fire and asked him to stop the train as soon as possible,'' Manoj Kumar, a railway official at the station told PTI.

The burning train had crossed Siwah village some 300 metres away, where the villagers settled along the tracks were awakened by the cries of the passengers and the screeching of the brakes of the train. ``The driver of the train separated the three bogies from the rear to avoid the fire from spreading,'' said Ishwar Sharma, who stays with his ageing father in a house near the tracks.

The residents of Siwah rushed to the rescue of those trapped inside the coaches.

``We saw people making frantic efforts to come out of the burning compartments and threw stones at the windows to break them open,'' said Sumitra, staying barely 100 metres away from the tracks.

Sumitra, her husband and neighbours, rushed to the spot to launch rescue efforts.

And from then on the villagers worked tirelessly — bringing water from the nearby lake to douse the flames, arranging tractors to ferry the injured to the hospital and even making tea and snacks for the police and fire-fighters, who arrived later.

``I saw a woman engulfed in flames jump out of the train and succumb to injuries on the track,'' said Kanta, Sumitra's neighbour.

Battling leaping flames, Kashmir Singh, a Railway Protection Force jawan, saved at least six passengers before succumbing to burns.

Mr. Singh, an Assistant Sub-Inspector in the RPF, was in one of the ill-fated bogies.

Showing exemplary courage, he managed to break open the doors and an emergency window of the compartment and helped the six get out.

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