Tracked down: 13-year-old handed over to parents after falling from train

She had been sleeping in front of a train door.

BAHAWALPUR:

A 13-year old girl fell off a Karachi-bound train after falling asleep in front of the train door. She was later handed over to her parents at Rahim Yar Khan railway station on Friday night.

Imtiaz Ali, his wife Nasreen Bibi, his daughter Shaista and four sons were travelling from Sahiwal to Karachi via Khyber Mail. They were going to meet their uncle in Karachi. Ali told The Express Tribune that they had been unable to get any seats and had to sit next to the door.

Shaista went to sleep at around 10pm near Khanpur railway station. When the train left the station, Shaista was tossing and turning in her sleep and fell off the train near Khanpur Sahja. Her parents began shouting for help and other passengers on the train quickly informed Rescue 15.

The Police Control Room informed the Sahja police station and a police patrol about the incident. Sahja Assistant Sub-inspector Muhammad Siddique, who was on patrol, and Aab-i-Hayaat Station House Officer Ghulam Muhammad carried out a search operation in the area and found Shaista near the railway track. She had not been seriously injured in the fall.

She was handed over to her family at Rahim Yar Khan railway station at around 1:45am.

District Police Officer Sohail Zafar Chattha appreciated the policemen’s efforts.

Ali and Nasreen Bibi told The Express Tribune that they were very poor. They said that they did not even have cell phones, “But we will never forget the kindness the police and fellow passengers showed us.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2013.