Mumbai: Teen falls in gap between train and Vasai platform, survives

Rahul Prajapati at Ravi hospital in Vasai

Commuters at Vasai station bore witness to a teenager's brush with death yesterday, when the 18-year-old slipped into the gap between train and platform but survived with only minor injuries. The miraculous escape came despite five compartments of the train he had alighted from passing over him, before it stopped.

According to Vasai RPF inspector Santosh Kumar, the boy, identified as Rahul Prajapati, hails from Surat in Gujarat and was travelling on the Jamnagar-Tirunelveli Express. Around 11.20 am, when the train was pulling in at Vasai station, he jumped off without waiting for it to stop completely and, as a result, fell into the gap. He immediately started shouting, after which fellow passengers pulled the emergency chain.

Speaking to mid-day, the victim's brother-in-law said, "He had come bearing gifts for his sister on the occasion of karva chauth. It's an annual ritual. Until now, her elder brother paid a visit every year, but this year, Rahul decided to come. I really believe it's his sister's blessing that he is alive."

Prajapati, who was taken to Ravi hospital near Vasai station, is now in stable condition and ready to go home. "We appeal to passengers to not board or alight from a moving train. When they ignore the warning, such things happen," said Kumar.

Also Read: Mumbai tragedy: Engineer slips and falls to death while boarding moving train

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