Chennai: In an amazing display of presence of mind and taking a risk, an elderly couple ran for a few metres on a railway track on Sunday midnight to stop an oncoming train and prevent a derailment in Tamil Nadu.
The couple, Shanmugaiah and Kurunthammal, living near the railway track, were sleeping when they were woken up by a huge noise. As they rushed to the spot, they found that a truck carrying plywood had falling on the railway track near Bhagavathipuram Railway Station close to Sengottai in southern Tamil Nadu, after breaching a crash barrier on the ghat road.
Realising that a train was approaching, the couple ran on the track at around 1 am on Sunday, and Kurunthammal flashed the torchlight on the train. Seeing this the loco pilot of the approaching empty rake applied the brakes in time. A railway official said had it not been for the couple’s timely signalling, the possibility of the approaching train derailing could not have been ruled out.
