Kolkata: Sayantani Ghosh, a resident of Picnic Garden in south Kolkata, is still in a state of shock and cannot believe that she has returned home alive along with her three-year-old daughter. “I was going to Chennai with my daughter by Coromandel Express to meet my husband who stops there for professional reasons. I was traveling in A1 coupe. Suddenly there were two big jolts. The impact was such that many people fell down Fell.” Fortunately, most of the passengers were sitting on the lower berths. Otherwise, the casualties could have been even higher,” she said.
Ghosh is a survivor of the horrific train accident that took place in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday, in which 288 people lost their lives and over 800 others were injured. According to Ghosh, he is still in shock thinking about the scene of the accident. She still can’t believe that she finally returned home safely with her daughter on Saturday.
Ghosh said, “But whenever I close my eyes, the screams of the injured passengers and the mutilated bodies haunt me.” Putu Sheikh, a migrant laborer from East Burdwan district, and his 10 friends had a narrow escape on Friday. “We were traveling in that train in search of jobs in South India. Suddenly, we heard a heavy sound and felt continuous tremors. The lights in the compartment went off. We somehow managed to get out of the train. The fear was overwhelming. There were heaps of dead bodies…I am scared to travel by train again.”
However, there is no good news for the family members of Pinaki Mandal, a resident of Shyampur in Howrah. “My father used to live in Odisha to earn his livelihood. Recently he came home to meet us and was going back on that train on Friday. In the evening, we heard about the accident. Finally, this morning we came to know that My father is no more,” said Barsha Mandal, the victim’s daughter, in tears.
There is also no news about Chandan Roy and his relative Nityam Roy, residents of South Dinajpur district, who were traveling in the ill-fated train. Nityam’s wife Chandana Roy told reporters that she called the two after getting the news of the accident. “Chandan’s mobile phone was switched off. When I called Nitem, someone else picked up the phone and told me that the owner of the phone had died. Then that phone first got disconnected and then switched off. However, No problem.” Confirmation of what I was told. I feel unknown.