Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Dec 27 car-train collision at Kurana, Katunayake

The Sri Lanka Railways said that one of the worst train-car collisions at a rail crossing could have been easily averted had the driver of the ill-fated vehicle heeded an SLAF officer’s warning. The tragedy at a Kurana-Katunayake rail crossing on December 27 claimed the lives of five persons, including two children.

The driver of the ill-fated car Anil S. Fernando (52), a director of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) had crossed the rail track despite the red light and the alarm bell indicating the oncoming train, Vijaya Samarasinghe, a senior spokesperson for Sri Lanka Railways told The Island yesterday. Quoting the SLAF sentry stationed near the crossing, Samarasinge said that Fernando had stopped the car, rolled down the shutter and responded to the airman while engaged on his mobile phone. The official said that Fernando had overtaken several vehicles halted along the road before attempting to cross the track. According to him, Fernando had told the SLAF sentry that he was in a hurry and therefore couldn’t wait.

Although a section of the press blamed the railways for the unprotected railway crossing and the tragedy, Samarasinghe pointed out that both the red light and the alarm had been in operation. “Don’t forget this happened at 11 a.m.” he said, emphasising that nothing could have been as irresponsible as ignoring the advice given by the security forces. He could have been shot for refusing to stop as directed by security forces or police, the official said.

The victims included Fernando’s wife Nirmalie Perera, their two children, Amila Sujani and Anupa Nirupana and the children’s grandmother M. D. Susan.

Fernando who sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

The Chilaw bound train No. 3412 had ploughed into the car at the No. WB GK 3619 and dragged it for some distance, the official said.

Responding to our queries, he emphasised the importance of taking deterrent action to discourage irresponsible drivers.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Source: The Island

Tags: accidents, alarm bell, car, collision, colombo, general hospital, katunayake, level crossings, rail track, railway level crossings, sri lanka railways

                            

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 1:21 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.