Date:17/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/17/stories/2008051759790900.htm

Tamil Nadu

Rain, winds bring down major portion of platform shelter

Special Correspondent

Miraculous escape for many passengers at railway station

— Photo: S. James

NATURE’S FURY: The damaged platform shelter at the Madurai railway station on Friday.

MADURAI: It was a miraculous escape for many passengers on the fourth/fifth platforms at the railway station here on Friday evening. Minutes before the scheduled departure of the Madurai-Dindigul passenger, rain, accompanied by gusty winds, brought down a huge portion of the platform shelter. Nobody was injured in the incident, railway sources said.

The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. Even as passengers were arriving to board the train scheduled to depart at 6.25 p.m., the steel frame/asbestos sheet started rattling and the bolts holding them together gave away.

“The shelter on the northern end has been completely damaged. It could have been a major accident had the entire shelter fallen down. We have disconnected power supply and the platform has been closed to traffic with immediate effect,” a senior railway official said.

Divisional Railway Manager, Hemant Kumar, said a departmental enquiry had been ordered into the circumstances that led to the incident. “It was a heavy wind. Bolts of the 10-month-old shelter have been severed. We cannot handle traffic on this platform as of now,” he told The Hindu.