In a remarkable act of bravery, vigilant railway employees rescued a five-year-old boy who had been clinging to the undercarriage of a goods train wagon on April 20. The child had endured a harrowing 100-kilometer journey in the scorching heat. Upon being rescued, the young boy appeared visibly shaken and traumatized by the ordeal.

The incident unfolded on Saturday afternoon. The child, who hails from Rajajipuram in Lucknow, is a ragpicker and resides with his father, who relies on begging on the streets for their livelihood. The boy's mother had abandoned the family several years prior.

On the day of the incident, the boy was playing near the railway tracks in the vicinity of Alamnagar when he climbed onto one of the wagons of a freight train that was headed towards Roza railway station.

According to an official source, the child's presence was initially detected by a pointsman at Masit railway station. The station master of Karna railway station subsequently confirmed that the child was indeed located beneath the wagon's undercarriage.

"As soon the presence of child was confirmed, Hardoi railway station staff was alerted to make unscheduled stop of the train and rescue the kid. We are on standby, and as soon the train came, RPF men rush to rescue the kid. The kid was exhausted and looked traumatised. We provided him food, water and alerted Childline. We managed to trace his father and later the kid was handed over to him," said sub inspector Sanjeev Kumar of RPF Hardoi.