Mumbai: Loco pilot rewarded for his alertness in saving 6-year-old's life

(Second from right to left) Divisional railway manager Shalabh Goel presents a certificate to loco pilot Vinod Kumar Jangid and his assistant Prajapati Mahesh

What railway pointsman Mayur Shelke did to save the life of a six-year-old boy, who accidentally fell off the platform at Vangani station, is something worthy of praise but even the alertness of the loco pilot of Udyan Express, Vinod Kumar Jangid, gave Shelke about 2-3 seconds to save his own life. The Mumbai divisional railway manager acknowledged his deed and rewarded him on Tuesday.

During the 13-second incident, from when the child fell on to the tracks and Shelke ran about 100 metres to pick him up and climb on to the platform himself, the Mumbai-bound Udyan Express was approaching at a speed of 105 kmph towards them.

The only saving grace was that Jangid, who witnessed the entire episode from the engine cab, applied emergency brakes after which the train speed gradually reduced to 85 kmph. This gave Shelke a margin of 2-3 seconds to save his own life as well.

"Vinod Kumar Jangid and assistant loco pilot Prajapati Mahesh of the train were presented with a certificate of appreciation and congratulated by divisional railway manager Shalabh Goel at the headquarters," a CR spokesperson said.