Mumbai bridge collapse: Hero driver stops train meters away from crash, averts tragedy

Hailing Sawant for his presence of mind, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced a reward of Rs. 5 lakh for him.

Railway and rescue workers gather around a site where a portion of a pedestrian footbridge collapsed over a railway track in Mumbai in July 3, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Punit PARANJPE

MUMBAI: A road overbridge in Mumbai's suburban Andheri area collapsed on Tuesday morning following incessant rain. The incident brought to a halt the local train services that caused huge inconvenience to the commuters. Five people were injured, two of them seriously, in the incident that took place at around 7.30 am. The tragedy could have been much bigger if Chandrashekhar Sawant, driver of a local train, hadn’t applied emergency brakes on time.

#WATCH Chandrashekhar Sawant, the Mumbai motorman who stopped train when he saw over head electric line snap,says' I immediately applied emergency brakes when I saw the line snap. A major accident was averted as it was peak hour&lot of people were around.' #AndheriBridgeCollapse pic.twitter.com/EWuRl7Ztlm

— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2018

Hailing Sawant for his presence of mind, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced a reward of Rs. 5 lakh for him. After he saw the foot overbridge coming down, Sawant quickly applied the emergency brakes. It was his alertness that saved many lives. The Gokhale road overbridge, built in 1971, collapsed near the eastern side of the railway station. "I immediately applied emergency brakes and the train stopped a few metres from the spot where the bridge collapsed," Sawant was quoted by PTI as saying. "The collapse was accompanied by a big thud sound of the falling debris," he said. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has "applauded the quick thinking and timely action of WR motorman Sawant at the time of the Andheri bridge mishap and announced a Rs 5 lakh reward for him", an official said. Weather department predicts more rainfall in Mumbai, adjoining areas The Meteorological department has predicted heavy rains in Mumbai and adjoining areas in the next 24 hours. Some isolated places in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are likely to receive heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places in the districts of Greater Mumbai, Thane and Raigad in the next 24 hours, PTI quoted an official as saying. Railway Minister orders inquiry Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has ordered an inquiry into the incident and directed officials to expedite the repair and traffic restoration work. "Part of road overbridge has fallen on tracks near Andheri Station impacting rail traffic. Directed officials to speed up repair work and rapidly restore traffic in close coordination with other departments. "I have also ordered an enquiry by Commissioner of Rail Safety," Goyal said. Civic governance has collapsed in Mumbai: Rahul Gandhi Congress president Rahul Gandhi said civic governance has "collapsed" in Mumbai with streets flooded and a road overbridge collapsing on rail tracks. "The streets are flooded, citizens stranded, bridges collapsing...Civic governance has collapsed. My thoughts are with the citizens of Mumbai. Stay safe!" Gandhi tweeted.