The pilots of a goods train saved three Asiatic lions Monday night while they were crossing a railway track near Gadhakda village of Gir (east) wildlife division’s Savarkundla range in Amreli district, said the railway officers. The loco pilot and the assistant loco pilot applied emergency brakes and stopped the train 100 metres away from the big cats, said the officers. The incident took place when a goods train from Amreli district was on its way to Sanand in Ahmedabad district at 9pm on Monday, officials of the Bhavnagar division of Western Railway said. “Loco pilot Pushpendra Kumar Sen (headquarter Jetalsar) and assistant loco pilot Umesh Babu (headquarter Jetalsar) applied emergency brakes after they spotted three lions crossing the track between Pillar No.58/7 and 58/8 of Gadhakda-Savarkundla section and halted their goods train No. PSSP/MHPLDS at a distance of around 100 metres (from the lions),” the Bhavanagar divisional railway said in a release. The two pilots informed the train manager (guard) and station manager of Savarkundla about the incidents, said the release. “Later, forest department employees came to the spot. After they gave a signal that the track was clear, the loco pilot resumed the journey,” it said.
