Malaysian pulls train with teeth

By Vijay Joshi

Rathakrishnan Velu attempts to pull with his teeth a seven-coach train with a combined weight of 297.1 tonnes at an old railway station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday. AP

KUALA LUMPUR, (AP) - A Malaysian man nicknamed "King Tooth" has pulled a seven-coach train using a steel rope clenched in his mouth in an attempt to set a new world record for the heaviest weight pulled with teeth.

Grunting and gasping, Rathakrishnan Velu's neck muscles strained and his face contorted Thursday as he hauled the nearly 328-ton train over more than 9 feet along tracks at a railway station in Kuala Lumpur.

The feat was being submitted to the Guinness World Records, said Rathakrishnan's manager, Anna Chidambar. Dozens of onlookers clapped and chanted "Malaysia Boleh!" or "Malaysia Can" when Rathakrishnan sat down and pulled the train, holding both tracks for support and pushing his booted feet against the wooden sleepers to propel himself backward.

Rathakrishnan, who partially attributes his strength to an Indian form of meditation, pulled the train 9 feet, 2.2 inches in the first attempt.

His second and third attempts resulted in the train moving 2 feet, 4.7 inches, and 8 feet, 1.6 inches.

An exhausted Rathakrishnan spoke only briefly to reporters, saying that in addition to the meditation exercises, he does jaw training daily.