india

Updated: Jul 10, 2019 15:02 IST

A train driver on Wednesday rescued a man who had been knocked down by the train the former was driving. He also took him to hospital.

Train driver B Narayan Rao was piloting the Baripada-Balasore DMU train early this morning when it ran over daily labourer Chittaranjan Hati soon after the train left Bhanjpur station at 3.22 am. Hati who was reportedly intoxicated with ganja could not hear the siren of the train. Both his legs were severed due to the accident.

Seconds after the train ran over Hati’s legs, the driver brought the train to a halt and carried the injured man to the Baripada railway station from where he was taken to Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital in Baripada town. “The driver had shown his presence of mind and carried one of the severed legs. He could not find the other leg due to darkness,” said Dr BN Rout who first treated the injured man at the hospital.

“Had the driver left the injured man there, he would have died immediately due to massive bleeding. We have so far given him 4 litres of blood. His condition is however critical.”

The driver told Hindustan Times that it was his duty to carry the injured man to the nearest railway station as there are rules set by Indian Railways. “I did not do anything great. Anybody in my place would have done the same thing. I tried very hard not to hit the man sleeping on the track with a dhoti over his body. But from a distance, it was difficult to know and I thought it was a piece of newspaper. I applied the brake, but it was too late,” said Rao.

Locals said the place where the accident occurred has a good presence of stray dogs and foxes and the injured man could have been hounded to death, if he was not removed to a hospital in time.