Kolkata: Passengers clad in blood-stained clothes and dust arrived at Howrah Station’s eight number platform in two trains provided by the Railways for those who were stranded at Bahanaga Bazar Station of Odisha’s Balasore district after two trains – Shalimar-Chennai Coromandal Express and Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express – collided on Friday at around 6:55 pm.
In the first train from Balasore to Howrah, which was a relief train by the Railways, 200 passengers had come and in the second train, there were around 1,000 passengers. Only 10-11 passengers of the first train got down at Howrah Station. “In every train that’s coming from Balasore, we have our staff. There were not many injured passengers, most were terrified. Santragachi is the main suburban station where most of the passengers had got off. Before that, there are four stops — Kharagpur, Panskura, Bagnan and Uluberia. Special Suburban trains have been arranged for the passengers,” Vineet Gupta, SDGM, South Eastern Railway said.
One of the survivors, who was travelling in Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, had sustained injuries in his leg. He said: “I was sitting at the top berth and using my phone when I heard a loud sound and the next thing I know was that my compartment had fallen down. There was blood everywhere. There were people who could not find their children or wives, brothers or friends. I could help only a few from my compartment to get out.”
Confused and terrified, many passengers were trying to let the situation sink in. Shankar Kumar (18) of Motihari in Bihar was travelling with his brother Rahul Kumar (20) in Shalimar-Chennai Coromandal Express when after a loud sound, the General compartment they were travelling in crashed. He had escaped without injuries but his brother Rahul had sustained minor bruises on his elbow. Describing how they escaped, Shankar said: “People helped us and we got out of a broken window. It was pitch dark,” while adding that they were lucky enough to have survived. He saw many who were lying dead around him. They plan to leave for home by train at around 3:30 pm.
There were at least 25-30 like Shankar Kumar who had to be treated by the medical team present at the Howrah Railway Station. Around four to five had to be hospitalised, according to Anupam Singh, DCP Howrah (North). He also added that the Yashwantpur-Howrah Express had 21 bogies out of which three were impacted by the accident and those were cut and the rest was returned to Howrah.
Railway coach attendant Sunil Kumar Prasad, who is a resident of Dakshineswar, was waiting for the arrival of another staff member who was a coach attendant in B5 of the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express. “From my group, there was one Prabir Das who hails from Barrackpore. The person I have come to receive has gone for duty in my place. He is okay and has also helped many others there,” Prasad said. When the news first broke, Prasad said that he had locked himself in a toilet and kept thinking as to how he would tell Das’ family about the situation.
“I got in touch with him after two hours of the accident. He told me in a very calm tone and said to tell everyone that he was fine,” Das recalled.
Ganesh Biswas (45) from Assam, who was in Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, had injured his toe and shoulder in the accident. “I was in the General compartment number 1. People started to scramble out and got up on the shoulder. I had fallen down as those near me panicked to get out,” he said. When asked about his journey home, he said: “We will see what the Rail department does. We do not even have money as we have lost everything except for a few of our belongings.”