Presence of mind by woman, son-in-law avert catastrophe

Kundapur: A major catastrophe was averted due to the presence of mind displayed by a woman and her son-in-law after an air-conditioned coach of Nizamuddin Express moving towards Ernakulum from New Delhi caught fire. The timely support extended by people living next to the railway tracks near Bijoor here also helped in preventing a disaster.

The lives and belongings of the passengers were in the doomed AC coach was saved by Jalajakshi Manohar Rai from Tingalady in Puttur taluk and her son-in-law, Nischal Shetty, by awakening the passengers from their deep slumber on seeing the fire within the compartment.

On Feb 27, Jalajakshi had been to Mumbai to help her daughter living there by taking care of her baby. on April 27, accompanied by her daughter, Akshata, son-in-law, Nischal Shetty, and the couple’s eight-month-old baby, Jalajakshi boarded B-4 compartment of the Nizamuddin Express train to go back to her home.

According to Jalajakshi, she was lying on the upper berth near the toilet of the compartment finding it hard to go to sleep. Soon, she saw smoke emanating from the toilet side, got up and smelt something burning. Unsure on what to do, she woke her daughter who saw the situation, panicked and woke others in the compartment. Later, her son-in-law pulled the chain, stopped the train and alighted from the train.

Jalajakshi informs that the family had decided to visit the native place due to series of holidays ending with May 1. The said train began a delayed journey by three hours and reached Mangaluru, next morning. Jalajakshi feels that providence saved them and the child from a frightful disaster.

Speaking of the incident, Nischal explained that the immediately after the train stopped about two km away from Bijoor station, people of the two houses located nearby rushed and switched their pump sets on. The fire was doused with the help of pipes. The train carried on with its journey two hours later, he said.

Nishal recollects that all the 72 berths in the compartment were full and had there been a delay of a few minutes, the entire compartment would have been gutted and a large-scale tragedy would have occurred, he feels.

“I have very little experience of travelling in a train. When I witnessed the thick smoke, I was totally scared for my life. I immediately alighted from my berth and started screaming FIRE! DANGER!I am glad that everyone is safe,” says Jalajakshi Manohar Rai