A 22-year-old man was electrocuted after he happened to touch upon an overhead wire in pursuit of a stray kite at the CSMT railway yard on Tuesday. The man, Omkar Tawde, was thrown away several feet from the railway engine in the impact. He suffered 80% burns, and was admitted to the intensive care unit of St. George’s Hospital.
According to Mr. Tawde’s younger brother Rishi, every year on Makar Sankranti, they go around catching stray kites. “We do it for fun. It is like a tradition we have had for the past several years. We go out hunting for stray kites and return with many of them,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Tawde, who works as a delivery boy at a private firm in Dadar, left for CSMT to meet his brother.
A resident of Vikhroli, Mr. Tawde had got married a few weeks ago. While Rishi lives in Diva, the brothers thought it was a good idea to continue with their festive tradition. “It was his idea to go near the yard as many stray kites get entangled there. Soon as he spotted a kite, he began running towards it. The kite was near a parked engine,” Rishi said.
He said he was on one side of the engine while his bother was on the other. “Suddenly there was a thud and my brother was thrown away on my side; his clothes were in flames.” He said he doused the fire using his hands and began calling for help.
“Several people gathered and were taking photographs and videos on their cell phones. But no one helped us. Eventually, a policeman called for an ambulance and a stretcher. But the vehicle that came was very small and the stretcher could not go inside,” Rishi said.
Instead of waiting for another ambulance, he took help from youngsters and ran with the stretcher to the entrance of the CSMT railway station where they found a parked ambulance that ferried his brother to St George’s Hospital. The incident occurred at around 4.15 p.m., but by the time, Mr. Tawde was taken to the hospital, it was 5.30 p.m..
According to Hemant Bawdhankar, senior police inspector, Government Railway Police, Mr. Tawde had climbed on the engine and had touched the overhead wire while attempting to pull the kite.
Dr. Madhukar Gaikwad, medical superintendent, St. George’s Hospital, said Mr. Tawde has deep burns on many parts of the body including his face. “His condition is critical.”
