The fall of a tractor into the railway gate at Bhojudih station in Bokaro, Jharkhand, prevented a catastrophic train tragedy. Symbolic depiction.
The fall of a tractor into the railway gate at Bhojudih station in Bokaro, Jharkhand, prevented a catastrophic train tragedy. Symbolic photograph | Image courtesy of The Hindu
The New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express narrowly avoided a severe disaster in Jharkhand’s Bokaro when a tractor slammed the railway gate near the Bhojudih station.
The incident happened on Tuesday night at the Santhaldih railway crossing when a tractor became wedged between the track and the barrier.
In a crash involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train, 288 people were killed and over 1,100 were injured just days prior at the Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha’s Balasore district.
While the gate was shutting at the Santhaldih crossing at the Bhojudih station in Bokaro district, a tractor drove through it. Manish Kumar, divisional railway manager (DRM) for South Eastern Railway’s Adra Division, claimed that the train’s driver used the brakes and the train halted, preventing a severe disaster.
According to Mr. Kumar, the event happened at 5 p.m., causing a 45-minute delay in the train’s departure.
He claimed a FIR had been filed at the relevant police station, and both the tractor and the gatekeeper had been suspended.
There was no sign of the tractor’s driver.
