In a freak accident at a Delhi Metro station today, a CISF jawan virtually caught a 10-year-old girl who slipped from a height of about 10-feet after she accidentally stepped on the escalator.
The incident occurred at about 6:30 PM at the Kalkaji Metro station when an unattended girl came near an escalator and in a few seconds started going up to the platform area in a precarious manner.
The girl, panicked by the sudden movement of the escalator and a screaming crowd, lost her balance and slipped down towards the station area from a height of about 10-feet where an on-duty CISF jawan caught her safely in his arms.
A video made by passengers present shows a man promptly running up the escalator to save the girl but before he could reach her, she slipped over from the moving sidebar and fell towards the station area below.
"The identity of the girl is being ascertained. She had some people with her but it seems they were busy somewhere and that was when she started playing near the escalator and subsequently she rolled on to it. Had it not been the CISF man, the little girl would have sustained fatal injuries by falling on the concrete surface below," a senior official said.
Soon after, senior CISF and Delhi Metro officials reached the spot and the escalator was stopped for sometime, they said.
They added the jawan was lauded for his presence of mind and is being recommended for a commendation.
