18-yr-old bled to death on tracks as trains went by

Imran Querishi's friends waved down 3 trains, but motormen didn't do their job of informing stationmaster about accident; he died soon after

Imran Querishi's friends waved down 3 trains, but motormen didn't do their job of informing stationmaster about accident; he died soon after

Smarter friends and an active Railway would've ensured that Imran Querishi were alive today.

The 18-year-old was travelling from Wadala to CST when he fell off the crowded train and hit a pole just after Sandhurst Road around 10.30 am on Friday.

Some of his acquaintances on the train saw him fall and got off at Masjid station and instead of approaching police personnel at the station and informing them about Imran's accident, they ran towards the spot where he fell.

HANGING QUESTION: Imran Querishi was travelling from Wadala to CST when he fell off the crowded train and hit a pole as the train left Sandhurst Road station on Friday.

15 mins lost

Once there, they tried to stop three trains that were passing by to carry the body on board. But none of the motormen stopped. "Imran's friends waved frantically to all the three trains, but in vain.

Finally, the motorman of the fourth train stopped and Imran was taken onboard. They got off at Masjid station and shifted Imran to GT Hospital," said Saleem Chand Shaikh, Imran's uncle.

The exercise took about 25 minutes. He was declared dead some time after being admitted.

"Imran suffered head injuries and died due to excessive bleeding. Precious time was lost in shifting him to a hospital," added Shaikh.

1,800
The number of people who died on the railway tracks in the last six months. Sixty per cent of them lost their lives while trying to cross the tracks. The rest fell off the trains

20,706
The approximate number of people who died on the railway tracks in the last five years, as revealed by an RTI application

The Other Side

The Railway refuse to take the blame for Imran's death. Central Railway chief public relations officer Srinivas Mudgerikar said, "Trains require some time to stop. So if brakes are applied when the motorman saw the boys waving and the train was at a speed of 50 kmph, it would have stopped around 120 m away. That's the distance between the accident spot and Masjid station. It's the motorman's job to inform the stationmaster about any incident and the stationmaster sends the hamals and the GRP personnel to the spot in case of an accident." However, MiD DAY learnt that the stationmaster at Masjid was not informed by any of the three motormen. Imran's family, however, is not interested in explanations. "He got engaged two months ago and was to be married soon. It's all over now," said Saleem Chand Shaikh.