23 January,2015 08:18 AM IST | | Sadaguru Pandit
The 55-year-old woman was reportedly drunk when she was crossing the tracks; GRP officials pulled her out from under the train only to learn that she had only suffered scratches
A 55-year-old woman crossing railway tracks at the Mahim station yesterday had a near brush with death after she was hit by an Andheri-Churchgate slow local. Much to the amazement of the GRP officials who rushed to pull her out from under the train, she suffered only minor injuries to her arm and head. According to the police, she was drunk at the time of the incident.
Illustration/Amit Bandre
Vimal Durve was crossing the tracks underneath the foot over-bridge around 1.20 pm, not realising that the Churchgate-bound train was heading straight for her. The motorman applied the brakes immediately, but even so, the train hit Vimal, causing her to fall from the impact. The train stopped right then, barely 100 feet from the platform, covering half of the victim's body.
Vimal Durve was crossing the train tracks at Mahim station when a train leaving the platform struck her
"At first we thought it was a fatal accident, that there was no way anybody could survive a head-on train collision. But somehow, when we pulled her out, she was only hit on the head and had injuries on her right arm, due to falling on stones. We rushed her to Sion Hospital," said D R Gaikwad, a GRP official.
She was taken to Sion Hospital by an ambulance from the emergency 108 service, while her family was informed about the incident. After multiple scans and tests, doctors announced that the woman fell unconscious due to shock, but there was no severe life-threatening injury.
"We have taken a CT scan and X-ray scan of her chest, head, and hands, but no fracture of any kind was found. Her BP is on the higher side, but that could be due to shock. There is no permanent injury whatsoever," said a doctor from the emergency ward, adding that Vimal could be discharged by the end of the day.
Later, as her family arrived by 6.30 pm, her sister, Sujalata, revealed Vimal had a drinking habit and had gone missing from their Nallasopara residence since that morning. "I had told her not to go anywhere, but she was becoming restless in the house.
Eventually, when I wasn't aware of it, she slowly slipped out and met with this gruesome accident. Thanks to God and the GRP officials who saved her life," said Sujalata.
