Two youths averted a major rail accident at Khanapur in Belagavi district on Friday.
Riyaz Syed Khanapuri, a driver, and his friend Tousif Ahmed stopped the Kolhapur-Hyderabad express and avoided collision with an uprooted tree that had fallen on the tracks.
They risked their lives and ran on the tracks, against the train and signalled the loco pilot to stop.
The duo was going to Belagavi from Khanapur on their two-wheeler when they saw a huge tree fallen on the tracks, within 3 km from Khanapur railway station.
They heard the train approach and wanted to prevent an accident.
“We started running on the tracks and waiving at the train. We must have run for around 500 metres. We raised our hands, signalled the driver, and shouted that there was a tree on the track. He applied emergency brakes and stopped it. The train was running at full speed and stopped just within a few metres of the tree. Some branches even touched the engine tip,” Mr. Khanapuri told The Hindu.
Railway authorities have commended the action of the two youths and thanked them in a letter issued by the zonal office in Hubballi, he said. A railway officer from Belagavi said the train was full with 800 to 900 people. “We have recommended a commendation to the two youths,” said the officer.