Five run over by train at Chinchwad

Railway police said six labourers alighted from Jodhpur-Yeshwantpur express train when it halted a little ahead of Chinchwad station as it did not get a green signal. But as soon as they got down,the express train started moving. As the six waited for the train to pass,Siddheshwar Express coming from Pune hit them. Five died on the spot,while one of them survived and has been admitted to YCM Hospital in Pimpri.

The five from Pali district of Rajasthan were returning to Chinchwad where they work as labourers at a temple construction site. Two were brothers.

Relatives of the victim said the five — Narayan Bhilrana (20),Amarnath Kalbelia (25),Mancharam Bhilrana,Praveen Bhilrana (20) and Prakash Bhilrana — had gone for a family function to their village Palijod. A relative of Kalbelia,said,“My cousin Amarnath had come to Pune in search of job as back home there is no work due to drought conditions. He was unmarried.”

Dr Milind Sonawane,in-charge of the YCM hospital post-mortem unit,said only one of the dead could be identified while other bodies were beyond recognition. Chinchwad station manager J K Gautam said the Jodhpur-Yeshwantpur express train had halted at Chinchwad station at 3.48 am and left at 3.49 am. “The train did not get the signal so it halted at Chinchwad station. After a minute,it started moving when the accident happened on the adjoining track,” he said. “From Lonavala,the train does not stop anywhere till Pune. At Chinchwad station,the control room must have halted the train to ensure its safe passage later.”

The spot where the accident occurred has seen many accidents. There is a curve under the overbridge. Railway activists have long been demanding an overbridge near the curve. The station manager,however,said there is already one overbridge at Chinchwad station.