'I was asleep when horror happened'

Updated on: 24 October,2009 07:43 AM IST |
Vinod Kumar Menon | vinodm@mid-day.com

Fahad Shaikh (25), who was one bogie away from motorman's cabin on which the water pipeline collapsed, relates the horror to Vinod Kumar Menon

Fahad Shaikh (25), who was one bogie away from motorman's cabin on which the water pipeline collapsed, relates the horror to Vinod Kumar Menon

FAHAD SHAIKH

The compartment, which had around 20 commuters, was a bogie away from the motorman's cabin. I saw
three to four women in the adjacent compartment. I went to sleep as soon as the train started.

The accident
Minutes after the train had left Mulund railway station at 10.35 am, I heard a huge thud and a sudden jerk brought the train to a halt.

I heard people crying for help and got up to find the female commuters in the adjacent compartment shouting.

A few other male passengers and I got down from teh train and saw the enormity of the disaster. I helped the women out of the train. The motorman's cabin was crushed beneath the pipeline.

Onlookers said that a few commuters, who had been hanging out of the second-class compartment door, had sustained injuries, as they had been thrown out when the train jerked.

Clicking pictures
People were clicking pictures on their cellphones and I too, took a few pictures. A few minutes later, the police and rescue workers arrived at the spot. I did not hang around and took a rickshaw to my office. For the next hour, I fielded frantic calls from my family who learnt of the accident through television channels.

This was the first time I had witnessed an accident from such close quarters. I hope I will never have to do so again.

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