14-year-old falls off Metro platform, has a close shave

KOLKATA: Raj Das, a Class VIII student from the Gitanagar area of Sonarpur’s Renia, had a miraculous escape after he fell in between the Metro rail tracks and the platform at Masterda Surya Sen station at Bansdroni on Tuesday afternoon.
The driver of the Dum Dum-bound train slammed the brakes just in time and brought the train to a halt metres away from the 14-year-old as the Metro employees and passengers raised an alarm.
The boy, who was rushed to M R Bangur hospital, escaped with only one sticth on his head.
Raj’s uncle Subir Chakraborty said the boy — a student of Bhowanipore Mitra Institution — was returning from school when the icident occurred. “He had his mathematics exam today and was returning with some of his friends. He was standing on the edge of the platform and was looking as the train was chugging into the station when he suddenly felt dizzy and slipped onto the tracks,” he said.
Raj was pulled back on platform by the Metro rail employees. He was in a daze. The Metro authorities immediately informed his family and his mother and uncle rushed to the hospital, where a CT scan was done on him.
Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said the boy fell down at 3.14pm. “The driver saw him falling down and applied emergency brakes. Had the motorman not been alert, it would have been fatal,” said Banerjee.
“Once the train stopped, power was switched off and Metro employees brought the boy back on the platform and handed him over to the police. The cops took him to hospital. Services between Kavi Subhas and Tollygunge stations resumed at 3.38pm. Train services were unaffected between Tollygunge and Dum Dum,” Banerjee added.
The boy’s mother, Ishani Das, said her son was suffering from a nerve disorder for the past three years. “He has been under medication, for which he sometimes gets dizzy. Of late, he had been returning from school with his friends,” she said. Raj’s father Samir Das is a driver by profession.