CANACONA
In a tragedy similar to the one which claimed the life of a former sarpanch of Loliem-Polem 10 years ago, a 48-year-old woman from Avali-Cotigao fell to her death after being blown away by the gust of wind from a speeding train near the Galgibaga KRC bridge on Friday morning.
According to reports, the incident took place at about 11 am when a group of nine women from Cotigao were walking alongside the KRC tracks from Maxem side, on their way to Galgibaga-Maxem river to collect a type of shellfish locally known as ‘Mario’.
The women had barely crossed the Galgibaga KRC bridge, when they heard the sound of a speeding train approaching from the Canacona side. One of the women alerted the others to quickly squat on the ground, to allow the fast-moving train to cross the bridge.
Eight women squatted on the ground, but one of them Supriya Suresh Gaonkar (48) became nervous and remained standing at the site.
To the horror of the other women, the gust of wind from a speeding train blew her off and she fell into a valley about 25 metres below.
The other women noticed the lifeless body of Supriya below and raised an alarm.
A Canacona police team went to the site, followed by the Railway Police.
Speaking to some media persons, the women claimed that Supriya had not been struck by the speeding train, but had been blown away by the gust of wind from the speeding train.
The Konkan Railway police team of PI Sunil Gudlar and PSI Kunal Verlekar reached the spot under the KRC bridge and further in the presence of two panchas conducted a panchanama.
The body was later sent to the South Goa District Hospital in Margao for medico-legal formalities. Further investigations are being conducted by PSI Kunasi Verlekar.
It may be recalled that in a similar tragedy, former Loliem Polem sarpanch Agnes Afonso (53) who was headed to attend a morning mass at the Galgibaga church, had died in a similar manner after she crossed the KRC bridge, when she was blown away by the gust of a speeding train on February 14, 2015.
