Wednesday morning turned out to be a dreadful ordeal for Vijayapoornima who was supposed to reach home in Kaka Thoppu, Madurai. Instead, one misstep from the train’s coach, and she found herself fighting for her life, caught between the train and the platform. The freak accident took place at 4.55 am on Wednesday at Madurai Railway Junction.
49-year-old Vijayapoornima was travelling from Chennai to Madurai along with her two sons on Ananthapuri Express, its last stop being Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. While de-boarding from the train, Vijayapoornima slipped and fell into the space below the train’s bio toilet, with her upper body still on the platform.
Speaking to TNM, an RPF senior official says, “The train stops for 5 minutes at Madurai Junction. Passengers getting down at Madurai are supposed to do so within 5 minutes. The train started to move and it appears as if she wasn’t fully awake when she was stepping down from the moving train. She also had a lot of bags, about 6, in her hand and she seems to have lost balance. One half of her body fell on the platform and the other half of it entangled below the bio-toilet.”
The train’s chain was immediately pulled and Railway Protection Force, with help from Railway Police and Station Master called began rescue operations. Later Fire Service too was pressed into action to quicken the process.
Vijayapoornima was admitted at Madurai Government hospital with minor injuries. As a result of his commotion, morning trains to Madurai were delayed by an hour. Howrah Express, Kanyakumari Express, Pandian and Pothigai Express were the trains delayed consequentially.
In November last year, an RPF constable miraculously saved a man who slipped and fell between a moving train and its tracks in Egmore Station in Chennai. The incident that was caught on CCTV camera. After he was saved from the jaws of death, the passenger was reportedly in panic and left the station without sharing his name or address.