Late for work, jumps from train and loses foot
The SAARC traffic arrangement, that affected routine train stoppages and the concern of getting late to office, prompted a man to jump off a moving train, sustaining serious injuries resulting in the loss of his left foot.
An employee of a private firm at Union Place, 25 year-old M.G. de Silva, routinely got off at the Slave Island station. However, with most trains running according to SAARC security measures the Sagarika express train from Matara to Colombo did not stop at the Slave Island Station but was heading directly to the Fort Railway Station. On Thursday as the express approached the Slave Island station Mr. de Silva jumped off the train missing the platform and falling on the track. His leg had then slipped under the moving train and it had gone over his foot.
Although railway regulations stipulate that any injured person be dispatched to hospital as soon as possible by stopping at the next station or even midway in this case the train had bypassed two stations.
General Manager Sri Lanka Railways Dr. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan said when such an incident occurs, the train staff should dispatch the injured to a hospital as soon as possible. “They are permitted not only to stop at the closest station but even midway even if there is no station and there is a hospital close by,” he said.
Commenting on this accident, Mr. Gunaruwan said he was not aware of it. He said the train staff could have got advice from an officer at the Train’s Control Office in Maradana.
Meanwhile the Slave Island Station Master B.M.A. Gunawardena said the Sagarika express train had reached the station around 8.25 a.m. and he got to know of the accident only after the train had left the station.
“Although the train was stopped for nearly 5 minutes, during which time the injured man must have been put back on the train the guard did not inform me of the accident,” he said.
Fort Station Master Sarath Pathirana said after the train reached its final destination around 8.55 a.m. they called for an ambulance and the victim was dispatched to the National Hospital within 10 minutes. He said if he had been informed of the accident beforehand he would have had the ambulance ready and waiting.
Commenting on eye witnesses observations that it would have been quicker to have summoned an ambulance from the Slave Island station as it was closer to the National Hospital Mr. Gunawardena said the train staff may not have wanted to stop for a long time at the station as it had been declared a high security zone for the SAARC. Meanwhile Mr. Silva is in the ICU in a critical condition after undergoing an amputation to his left foot.
Source: The sunday Times
