A 60-year-old woman was killed, and five others, including an eight-year-old child, were injured after a goods train rammed their small bus at an unmanned level-crossing at Adyar on the outskirts of the city on Sunday.
The Government Railway Police have identified the deceased as Zulaika. Her relatives Thahira (40), Noor (8), Hussain (25), Mumthaz (35) were injured. Driver Harish (51) suffered minor injuries.
According to Adyar resident Harish Kumar Shetty, the private bus was travelling from National Highway 75 towards Neermarga, when it came across the unmanned level crossing around noon. “Some people had shouted at the driver telling him not to cross. He did not seem to have heard them,” he said.
Just as the bus was crossing the tracks, a goods train coming from Mangalore rammed the back of the bus. The collision was such that the bus spun, and fell into a ditch. “It was kicked like a football,” said Mr. Shetty.
With hardly anyone nearby, it took an hour for the few residents to pull out the passengers. “One mother was screaming ‘Save my daughter’. There were not many of us. It took us time. And, as the goods train had stopped at the crossing itself, no car could come for the rescue,” he said.
Mr. Shetty said the 60-year-old woman was the last to be pulled out. “Her thigh bone was shattered, and with only a few of us there, it took us time to get her out. Her face was turning blue, and she complained that her chest was hurting. It was only after an hour of the incident that she was taken to a hospital in a police jeep,” he said.
While the goods train moved out in an hour, train services on the tracks were stopped till around 5 p.m.
