Boy's heroic act averts tragedy

Prasad PURNAMAL, Puttalam group corr

Sandunil Sankalpa

A bus with over 40 passengers and a three-wheeler narrowly escaped being hit by a train at a railway crossing in Bangadeniya along the Chilaw-Anamaduwa main road due to prompt action by a 10-year-old boy.

Sandunil Sankalpa, a Grade Five scholarship candidate was near the Bangadeniya railway crossing with his aunt when he saw a bus and a three-wheeler about to cross the railway line unaware that the 6.45 pm train to Puttalam was heading towards them.

Sandunil immediately closed the gates while shouting at the vehicles, risking his own life. The bus with 40 passengers and the three-wheeler managed to stop and thus a monumental tragedy was averted.

The three-wheeler driver Lionel of Bangadeniya said that it was Sandunil who saved their lives at the risk of his own. Sandunil, whose father is a carpenter, is the eldest of a family of four.