In a shocking incident, villagers in the Cooch Behar district on Sunday prevented a possible rail mishap by waving a piece of red cloth to stop the Alipurduar-Bamanhat passenger train near Ghughumari station. The villagers spotted a crack on the tracks after which they alerted the train.

The incident came soon after the derailment of the Hirakhand Express which left 40 dead.

Locals said, "We saw there was a crack on one of the railway tracks. We stood on one side and immediately drew the attention of the driver of the train which we knew would pass the area shortly."

West Bengal Minister Rabindranath Ghosh, who is in-charge of North Bengal Development department, appreciated the villagers before media persons for taking such a cleaver step.

"Their timely act saved so many lives," Ghosh said.

An NFR spokesperson said "the 55465 Alipurduar-Bamanhat train was stopped as the villagers informed the driver about cracks on track at 7:30 AM near Ghughumari station.

"The train, which was halted shortly after leaving Alipurduar station, resumed its journey for Bamanhat station at 8:40 AM after railway maintenance staff repaired the cracks", the spokesman said in Guwahati.

Station Manager, New Coochbehar, said "the train made a brief halt before resuming its journey."

Railway sources in Alipurduar Junction went to the spot from New Cooch Behar and fixed the problem.

Jadgadalpur-Hirakhand Express Derailed in Odisha, 40 Killed & 50 Injured

BY M. DIVYA SRI