Bangalore, Oct 27, 2013, DHNS: A boy died after being struck by a train in Benson Town on Saturday night.
The victim was identified as Farooque, 13, a class VIII student and resident of Williams Town in Pulikeshinagar. According to railway police, the accident occurred at around 6 pm while Farooque was crossing a stretch of tracks to retrieve his kite which had become entangled in the branches of a tree on BB Road.
When Farooque attempted to cross the tracks near a point section, where two tracks merged, the track closed, trapping his foot between the tracks. He attempted to free his leg and began to shout for help as a train approached.
“Farooque’s leg was cut into pieces by the train and he was thrown from the track,” police said.
A friend of Farooque, who witnessed the accident, told Deccan Herald that he had heard Farooque crying for help. “I saw the train speed over his leg. I realised that he was thrown clear of the tracks and was alive,” he said.
Although rushed to a nearby hospital, Farooque succumbed to his injuries at around 8 pm, police added.
Everyday habit
Farooque was the son of Nawab Khan, a welder, and Zareena Begum, a homemaker. Members of the family, who are stunned by the accident, said Farooque had taken to flying kites in the area everyday during the Dasara holidays. When the school reopened on October 21, he had continued flying kites after school. “He celebrated his birthday a week ago,” members of the family added.
Local outrage
Local residents were outraged by the accident. They pointed out that there was no protection along the tracks where the accident took place. “Many people keeping crossing the tracks,” they said and added that a protective wall should be built.
