M. Shashikala, 20, who got stuck between the platform and compartment while alighting from a train at Duvvada Railway Station on Wednesday (December 7), succumbed to internal injuries at a hospital in Visakhapatnam on Thursday afternoon.
Shashikala, hailing from Annavaram, was studying at a private college in Duvvada and used to shuttle between Annavaram and Duvvada by train every day. On Wednesday morning, she boarded the Guntur-Rayagada express at Annavaram as usual to reach Duvvada.
While alighting at the Duvvada station, Shashikala slipped and got stuck in the gap between the coach and the platform. She began crying for help and was in excruciating pain as she tried her best to extricate herself.
RPF personnel, Railway officials and passengers rushed to the girl’s rescue, as other women passengers tried calming the distressed girl and reassuring her that she would be rescued safely. Efforts to pull her out proved to be tricky for the Railway personnel, who after struggling for an hour had to break two blocks of the platform to finally pull her out. She was immediately put on a stretcher and rushed out to a waiting 108 ambulance, which whisked her away to the KIMS ICON Hospital at Sheelanagar.
Her classmates and faculty members who visited her in the hospital were hopeful of her making a recovery as she had no visible injuries. Shashikala also spoke to them before her condition worsened and she was shifted to the ICU.
After a thorough examination, doctors ascertained that she had suffered grievous internal injuries. “She suffered multiple fractures of her pelvic bone and also suffered a severe bladder injury, resulting in heavy blood loss. Her blood pressure also plummeted as it was a major internal injury. She was put on a ventilator but unfortunately could not survive,” a hospital source said.
“She was planning to take a room at a hostel in Duvvada in order to avoid the prospect of commuting every day. It is our misfortune and we pray to God that no parent should experience such a tragedy,” said M. Babu Rao, Shashikala’s father, struggling to hold back tears.
