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Ex-EU envoy’s teenage daughter dies in train tragedy
View(s):The 18-year-old British teernager who fell off a moving express train last Sunday has been identified as the daughter of a former European Union Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Bernard Savage.
Police said the girl was travelling on the footboard of the Matara-Kandy express train on March 29 when the tragedy occurred.
“Our staff observed she was taking photographs while travelling on the footboard,” said Ranchagodage Gamini Dharmaratne, OIC of the Railway Protection Force in Aluthgama. He said the passengers were warned not to travel on the footboard, but it appeared that the girl had not heeded the advice of his staff.
As the train was passing through the Payagala North railway station around 4 pm, her leg had struck the platform, throwing her off balance. “She fell off and was caught between the platform and the train,” Mr. Dharmaratne said. The train had carried on till Kalutara, its next stop. Mr. Savage served as the European Union ambassador in Sri Lanka from 2009 to 2013. He is now based in Brussels, Belgium.
Meanwhile Railways General Manager V. Amaratunga urged commuters yesterday not to travel on footboards.
“It is clearly dangerous,” he said. “We have elevated the platforms to make it easier for passengers to embark and disembark. There are now only a few inches of height difference between train steps and the station platforms.”