Daring railway man saves boy from getting crushed under a train in Mumbai

A daring railway pointsman raced like a cheetah opposite a speeding train and saved a boy from getting run over at the Vangani station of the Central Railway.

The pointsman, Mayur Shelke, attached to CR’s Mumbai division was hailed as a hero and was praised by one and all.

The incident took place on Saturday evening when the Udayan Express was speeding towards the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.

His act of exemplary courage and bravery was captured by CCTV camera and the footage went viral on social media. The video footage shows the boy, who was walking with his mother, on the platform and slipped down on the tracks. The footage also shows a local train speeding in the same direction when Shelke is seen running on that track from the opposite direction.

The mother, who was visually challenged, tried to help out her son, but could not.

Endangering his life, the man sprinted and got hold of the boy and pushed him to the platform. Then he somehow climbed and secured himself over the platform, missing the train by a fraction of a second.

The mother-son duo belongs to Vangani in Thane district.

“I feel proud that I could save the boy,” he said. “I saw the boy falling down and the speeding train….I ran for 50 to 60 metres before I could secure him and save myself,” he said. Asked whether he has seen the CCTV footage, he said: “Yes…I just wanted to save him…and I did.”

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal praised Shelke for the act of bravery.

“Very proud of Mayur Shelke, Railwayman from the Vangani Railway Station in Mumbai who has done an exceptionally courageous act, risked his own life and saved a child's life,” tweeted Goyal.

“A Good Samaritan: At Vangani station of Central Railway, Pointsman Mayur Shelkhe saved the life of a child just in the nick of time. He risked his life to save the life of the child. We salute his exemplary courage and utmost devotion to the duty,” the Railway Ministry tweeted.