Train guard pulls brakes as driver collapses, falls

Kolkata: A major train accident was averted near Katwa as the guard slammed the emergency brakes and managed to stop a local train after the driver of the train accidentally fell down from the running train. As per doctors, the driver of the train had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest that resulted in his fall. The train had left Howrah station for Katwa at 8 am.

While the train was bound for Katwa after leaving Doihat station, the guard of the train noticed that the driver Ilabant Halder had fallen down in a bush by the side of the railway tracks. He immediately pressed the emergency brakes to stop the train.

The guard, B Ram, along with other fellow passengers took the injured driver to the nearby railgate. He was rushed to Katwa sub divisional hospital in a toto. Halder has sustained serious injuries in his head and shoulder.

Sources in the Government Railway Police (GRP) informed that the driver is a resident of Bandel and had boarded the train from Bandel station. He had kept the door of his cabin ajar. Suddenly he felt a pain in his chest and lost control of his footsteps and fell down.