The freak accident that took place at Ghatkopar station on November 16, and had left two people severely injured after a piece of metal earthing came off from beneath the passing Maharaja Express, came to a tragic ending on Thursday
One of the injured, Arjun Shinde (27), who was hit by this metal piece right on his head, succumbed to his multiple injuries in civic-run Sion hospital.
Victim dies
Doctors said that soon after Shinde was admitted to the trauma ward of the hospital last Saturday evening, his condition was extremely critical as the impact resulted in his skull being cracked open, much to the horror of several bystanders. On the other hand, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) took a suo-moto case of the incident, for which inspections were conducted on November 21 and 22.
While Shinde underwent an operation on Sunday, he continued to be on life support in the trauma ward where he was put on ventilator and blood support. Despite this, the victim was unable to survive due to the severity of his injuries. Dr Avinash Supe, dean of the hospital, said, “The patient passed away on Thursday following which his post mortem was conducted in the hospital.”
A doctor from the hospital said that the victim died due to polytrauma caused to his head and his father collected his body on Thursday evening after which his last rites were performed. The other injured person, Rajan Nair (42), managed to escape with minor head injuries and swelling on his back and was recuperating at Rajawadi Hospital.
Unsafe Railways
Amidst the death, the CRS began his enquiry into the accident and began speaking to witnesses who saw this accident. Sources in CR said that the platform was raised and so was the metal earthing piece, which took the hit from the passing express train. It is quite likely that the front of the train hit the metal piece, whose height too was raised, and by the time the later coaches went over it the metal strip dislodged and went on to hit the two who were waiting at the platform.
Sources added that Maharaja Express didn’t have sufficient ground clearance, unlike a local EMU train which is taller than long distance trains. “The CRS told us to declare this platform as unsafe. But we have ensured that necessary works would be carried out to rectify the mistake,” said another CR official on condition of anonymity.
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Another round of meeting is likely to be held in the coming week.u00a0
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