One person died at the Park Street station of Kolkata Metro Rail on Saturday evening when he was dragged by a train after his hand got stuck between the doors.
According to eye witness accounts at the station, the deceased was dragged for at least seven meters by the train before hitting the tunnel wall and falling on the third line.
“The incident took place at the Park Street station at 6.45 pm today (Saturday) when the train was departing from the station,” said Indrani Dutta, the Kolkata Metro spokesperson.
She added that such an incident took place in Kolkata Metro for the first time and a probing committee has been formed to investigate the incident.
Kolkata Police sources said that the deceased passenger’s name is Sajal Kanjilal. He is a resident of Kasba area of South Kolkata. His body has been sent for post-mortem.
The incident has raised serious questions on the safety arrangements of Kolkata Metro stations and trains. According to sources, the train in question is a new model equipped with sensors to ensure that doors don’t close if something is stuck between them. They also pointed out that if the doors are not properly closed, then the train is not even supposed to start.
Passengers alleged that they tried to contact the driver several times urging him to stop the train but there was no response from him, and the number of RPF personnel was inadequate.
“What was the RPF and the personnel manning the CCTV cameras doing when this person was being dragged to death?” asked a Metro Rail passenger.
Another passenger said that they received a burning smell when the incident took place and thought there was a fire in the train.
“The air conditioner stooped and we were suffocating inside the train. No announcements were made by the Metro Rail authorities at that time,” said a passenger.
Sources in the state government said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has described the incident as “unfortunate.”
