Three passengers were injured when a huge boulder came crashing down one of the compartments of the 17317 Hubballi — lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express at the Monkey Hill ghat section at lonavla, near Pune, in the early hours of Monday.
Following a heavy downpour witnessed between Monkey Hill and Thakurwadi section on Sunday night, a boulder rolled down from the Monkey Hills onto the S-6 sleeper coach of the lTM-bound express train, at around 5 pm.
The mishap occurred when the train was moving at a restricted speed in the lonavla-Karjat ghat section, which is prone to landslides and falling of rocks from hillocks during the monsoon season.
The boulders pierced through the roof of the affected compartment and injured at least three passengers.
The Central Railway rushed an accident relief train to the mishap site. While two of the injured passengers — identified as Hasansaab Belavanki and Asif Belavanki were admitted to Fortis Hospital at Kalyan for advanced treatment, while the third injured passenger — Shiv Prasad is being treated at the Kalyan Railway Hospital.
Central Railway General Manager D K Sharma visited Fortis Hospital, Kalyan and spoke to the injured passengers and doctors attending them. “The two passengers have undergone CT scan and other tests have been conducted. Both are in a stable condition,” a senior Railway official said.
Meanwhile, the traffic on this busy rail route remained unaffected. “The track was declared safe for the movement of trains shortly after the incident. No train was held up due to the incident. The affected train later moved to Karjat from where it left for its final destination,” Central Railway spokesperson Sunil Udasi said.
While the Central Railway paid Rs.25,000 each as compensation to Hasansaab and Asif, Rs.5,000 was handed as compensation to Prasad.