People gather near the wreckage of a vehicle after a school van was allegedly hit by a passing train while attempting to cross a railway track, in Cuddalore
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: In a tragic accident, three students, including two siblings, were killed and three others injured after a speeding passenger train rammed into their school bus at a manned railway crossing near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. The bus driver and another student, who escaped with injuries, squarely blamed the gatekeeper for the accident, accusing him of keeping the gate open, while eyewitnesses alleged that the gatekeeper was fast asleep and failed to close the gate.
The accident occurred at Semmankuppam, about 25 km from Cuddalore, as the children were on their way to Krishnaswamy Vidyanikethan Senior Secondary School at around 7:45 am, when the Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai passenger train was passing through the manual railway level crossing gate No 170.
The deceased have been identified as T Charumathi (16), T Chezhian (15), and Nimalesh (12). Besides the driver and a student, one bystander who suffered an electric shock at the site was also injured. Locals added a language angle to the accident, alleging that the gatekeeper, Pankaj Sharma, not knowing Tamil, was also one of the reasons for the accident.
“Preliminary inquiry has found negligence on the part of the gatekeeper. As per our investigation, the gate was kept open when the train passed through the manned gate,” a senior police officer involved in the probe told DH.
Since the gate was a non-interlocking system, it was the gatekeeper’s duty to close the gate or inform the signalman if there were any issues, officials said. An interlocking system would not allow the signal to turn green unless the gate is closed.
However, Southern Railway (SR) said a preliminary inquiry revealed that the gate was closed when the van arrived at the spot, and the gatekeeper opened the gate only at the request of the van driver, violating rules and protocol.
“The gatekeeper has been suspended, and the process for his dismissal from service has been initiated. An FIR has also been filed against him,” SR said in a statement. The Railway Police in Chidambaram have arrested the gatekeeper, Pankaj Sharma, and will produce him before a court.
Contradicting SR, the van driver, Shankar, the injured student Viskesh, and eyewitnesses said the gate was open when the vehicle arrived at the crossing. “I didn’t speak to the gatekeeper, and he was not present at the level crossing. Since the gate was open, I proceeded, only to be hit by a train,” Shankar said.
The injured student echoed the driver’s statement, saying the gate was open and that the driver did not hesitate because they did not hear the sound of a train. “I was also an eyewitness, and I didn’t see the gatekeeper even after the collision,” Viskesh said. Locals thrashed Sharma before handing him over to the police.
The accident also triggered a political slugfest after SR claimed that the Cuddalore Collector did not grant permission for constructing an underpass sanctioned by the Railway Minister last year. While the government did not respond, the BJP demanded to know from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin why his government delayed the construction of this crucial underpass.
SR and the Tamil Nadu government announced separate compensation packages for the victims’ families.
SR also contradicted itself, as a detailed statement issued Tuesday noon said the gate was closed, while the initial statement released in the morning said the driver pleaded with the gatekeeper to allow the vehicle to cross the gate when he was about to close it.