HMRL denies report of girl’s injury, DC stands by its report

HYDERABAD: Officials from L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail said that the girl injured at Hitec City station was provided help and first aid by the staff.

Reacting to a report published in these columns on Friday (Injured girl unconscious after Metro Rail’s apathy, Nov. 11) the company spokesperson in a statement said that the incident was wrongly reported and the pool of blood mentioned in the report was nothing but water poured on the wound and that girl did not faint.

It said the girl's mother was appreciative of the Metro Rail staff coming to her kid's aid, the spokesperson said adding that all stations were equipped with first aid medical kits and officials having public interface were regularly trained to assist those in distress.

Our Correspondent replies: We stand by our report, as the correspondent witnessed the incident himself. We highlighted the indifferent attitude of the staff, who did not react to the requests for first aid made by another girl.

It was only after this correspondent questioned the delay that the staff members, with a callous attitude initially, threw a piece of cotton on the table to be picked up by one of the sanitary staff members who brought it to the girl. But it was insufficient.

This correspondent went to the counter again and asked for a first aid kit and started recording the inaction of the staff on the  mobile phone. Only then did they bring the first aid kit by which time blood from the injury had formed into a pool. None of the staff provided any help and it was only the co-passengers who administered first aid.

It is a blatant lie to say that the girl did not faint. The injured girl and the co-passenger who assisted her fainted. In fact, the injured girl who gained composure offered her water bottle to the other girl. The staff did not offer water to either of them.