Train accident: Railway blames Maharashtra's 108 staff

THANE: An internal probe by the Central Railway into the mishap at Kalamboli on Monday has ruled out negligence on the part of its staff and has, instead, blamed the Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) staff for refusing to take the victim's body.
The report, a synopsis of which was accessed by TOI, says railway staff at Panvel and Kalamboli had promptly acted after friends of the victim, Naushad Khan, informed them.

According to investigation by senior Central Railway officials, the Panvel and Kalamboli staff had alerted the MEMS ambulance facility.

The MEMS team reached the spot, and after attending to the victim, declared him dead. The Railways claim the ambulance staff refused to ferry the body.

"The 108 ambulance responded promptly. However, as there was no road access, the vehicle was parked some distance away and the doctor and his aide reached the spot at 5.35am. After examining the victim, the doctor declared him dead, but didn't take the body by ambulance," said a senior railway official.

When contacted, an MEMS official admitted their doctor refused to ferry the victim which was as per their guidelines. "As per guidelines, our services are restricted only to attending to people who are injured or could be resuscitated. We will review our guidelines in the coming days," said the official.

Activists have lashed out at the railway administration for failing to arrange an ambulance due to which the man's corpse lying on a stretcher was ferried in a crowded local from Diva to Thane.