TEAM HERALD
CANACONA: An early trip to prepare for the morning mass ended in tragedy, when a former Loliem-Polem sarpanch died after she was hit by a moving train near the KRC Bridge at Galgibaga-Canacona on Saturday.
The incident occurred at about 6.15 am as Agnes Alphonso (53) from Maxem-Canacona was on her way to the Galgibaga church with her sister-in-law and another woman, to attend the morning mass.
Agnes and the two other women from Maxem (Loliem), who are parishioners of St Anthony’s Church, Galgibaga, were proceeding early to church to prepare for the Mass, as the Maxem Small Christian Community was scheduled to organise the liturgical preparations in the church on Saturday.
The three women had reportedly taken a route over the KRC Bridge from their residential locality, Maxem, which is located on the other side of the Galgibaga River.
The three women were walking on the tracks and were about to cross over to a pathway, when they realized a train was fast approaching them along a sharp curve from Canacona side and heading towards Karwar.
The three women scurried in order to keep themselves at safe distance from the train, but Agnes, who was wearing a saree at the time, was unable to escape in time.
“After the train crossed, we looked back but there was no sign of Agnes. When we looked for her, she had already fallen down the slope, with her head badly injured and no sign of life,” said the distraught sister-in-law of Agnes, who had accompanied Agnes.
Locals who rushed to the site claimed that Agnes may have died instantly after being hit by the moving train.
The police was later alerted and the body was later shifted in a Goa Police Hearse Van.
According to sources at KRC Canacona, the Margao-Mangalore (Down) train was plying along the route at around the same time when the accident took place.
As the Railway police did not arrive for a long time, Canacona police led by PI Gurudas Kadam conducted the panchanama before dispatching the body for a post mortem.
A former sarpanch of Loliem-Polem Panchayat, Agnes was a regular churchgoer and had also served as catechist. She had been awarded a number of commendations from church leaders for her services to the church.
