8 buffaloes hit by EMU near Chintadripet, 2 killed

Railway sources said that the accident happened at 5.30 am on Friday when the visibility was not very good. Though the rescue operation by Blue Cross volunteers was on, the train services were not halted in the section. 

The volunteers removed the injured buffaloes during the window periods available between the services. Dawn Williams, General Manager of Blue Cross of India, said that they were waiting for the train services to stop. “There were totally eight buffaloes – two are dead, two we managed to walk off to safety. There were four more on the tracks, out of which one had been secured in the railway station. We were waiting for the railways to clear the track for us to work. 

One track will be cleared by 10.30 pm and the other by 11.45 pm. We are using 3:1 rig system to remove the animals. The injured animals are being treated and it would be great if they survive,” he said. Williams added that it is fairly common to find buffaloes on the railway tracks. “The heifers weighing 350-400 kg are found on the city outskirts in Velachery and Pallikaranai. They would have walked onto the tracks from the suburbs. We will speak to the Railway Protection Force, whose duty is to obstruct any man or animal intrusion,” he noted.