Borge's death: Eye-witness accounts

On April 28 at around 7.50am, Bharat Borge crawled under the level-crossing- which is usually closed between 7am and 11am-in an attempt to cross the tracks. Lever-man Gopinath Pawar, an eye-witness said, "I was sitting in my cabin, when I saw this man trying to cross the tracks from the Eastern side to the Western part of Vile Parle. When the man (later identified as Borge) saw the train hurtling towards him near platform no. 4, he crouched, probably in fear. Moments later, the train hit him, and dragged him for nearly 50 metres. I rushed to the spot where he was lying. I immediately informed the station manager."
Motorman P K S Pillai was driving a Churchgate-bound fast local train when he spotted Borge trying to cross the tracks at the Vile Parle level-crossing. In Pillai's opinion, it appeared as if Borge was attempting suicide. "I had honked when the train was 100 ft away from Borge. He was on the tracks of platform no. 4 tracks. He could have moved away if he had wanted to. Instead, he crouched low on the track till the train hit him."
John Burkman, a resident who lives in area, was near the Vile Parle level-crossing on April 28 when he saw Borge crawl under the closed level-crossing. "A Borivli-bound train passed him on the tracks of platform no. 3 in front of him. it looked like he was waiting for the train to pass so that he could cross. But suddenly, he saw a train approaching him on the tracks of platform no. 4. He crouched low, not knowing whether to go ahead or not, when the train hit him.'' said Burkman.
30/04/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Apr 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2009, Safety Apr 2009