Bengal school bus-train crash: Drunk gateman ignored closing rail gate, arrested

KOLKATA: The preliminary inquiry conducted by the police and the Railways department into the tragic incident at Karnasubarna in Murshidabad district, West Bengal, which resulted in the deaths of four individuals, including three schoolchildren, on Friday when a train collided with a van at a railway crossing, has indicated that the negligence of the gateman was the main cause of the accident.

Sources aware of the development said the accused gateman, who was in an inebriated state, ignored his duty of closing the rail gate, even though he was informed that the Nimtita-Katwa local train was coming in high speed over the down line.

Since he did not shut the rail gate, the driver of the school van, unaware of the oncoming train, tried to cross the railway line. Just then, the train directly hit the school van, leading to the death of four, including three schoolchildren.

The railways have immediately suspended the said gateman on charges of serious negligence of duty. Later, he was arrested by the police.

The local people have alleged that in the past, several complaints had been lodged with the local railway authorities about the gateman being in a drunken state even during his duty hours.

“There had been several instances in the past where he forgot to open the rail-gate after the trains had passed, thus creating traffic congestion on both sides of the rail-gate for a prolonged period. Many of us expressed apprehension about such a mishap in case he forgot to close the rail gate. Our apprehension came true this morning, and the mishap happened,” a local resident told media persons after the arrest of the gateman.

While the gateman was being arrested, he was visibly in an inebriated state.

While three schoolchildren died on the spot, four others, including three students, are currently admitted under critical conditions at Baharampur Medical College and Hospital,

Former Congress Lok Sabha member from Baharampur and former state Congress president in West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, rushed to the spot after the mishap.

“This mishap was due to the fault of the gateman. However, infrastructure issues have remained ignored for a long time. Whether the allegations against the gateman are true or not remains to be seen. Whether the gateman was a government employee or outsourced also remains to be seen. Whether there was proper training or not, that also should be probed,” Chowdhury told media persons.