Alert loco pilot averts disaster, assistant loses life trying to out engine fire

The Indian Railways has commended two of its loco pilots for taking action to control a fire in the engine that potentially saved lives. It also expressed regret over the accident death of one of the loco pilots in the mishap which happened on Sunday.

The loco pilot, DL Bramhe, noticed smoke rising from the engine of the Howrah - CSMT Express between Talni and Dhamangaon in Maharashtra. A statement from the Railways said, Brahme "immediately applied emergency brakes and used the fire extinguisher to put off the fire, thereby saving a potential disaster of major scale and saving many lives. The train left for onward journey towards Mumbai with change in locomotive with no casualty or injury to any passengers."

"During the process, Assistant Loco Pilot Shri S. K. Vishwakarma as per normal protocol was inspecting the loco and in the process he accidentally fell down from train. He was rushed to hospital by Ambulance immediately but lost his life. Shri Vishwakarma succumbed to his injuries while discharging his duties while saving lives of hundreds of passengers of the train and averted a major disaster," the statement added. 

A condolence prayer meeting was held at Nagpur and all other divisional headquarters of Central Railways to mark Vishwakarma's death.

"We salute the spirit of every such Railwaymen for time and again proving this point, all for the cause of safety and secure transportation of our passengers," the statement said.

The Railways added that a high-level inquiry into the incident would be held by the Commissioner of Rail Safety (Central Circle).