CHENNAI: Shanmugaiah and Kurunthammal, the couple from Sengottai in Tenkasi who won the hearts of the people by preventing a train mishap in the wee hours of Sunday, were rewarded by the State government here on Tuesday.

Chief Minister MK Stalin invited and honoured the couple at the secretariat where they were presented with a shawl each and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh from Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund for their bravado. Woken up by the sound of a truck that plunged onto the railway track from a road above well past midnight on Sunday, the couple, who lives close to the track, ran on the track and stopped an approaching empty rake by waving a torch light in the ghat section.

Thanks to them, the loco pilot halted the train a safe distance from the spot where the wood-laden truck lay on the track between Bhagavathipuram and Aryankavu stations.