Amid stories of tragedy following the Bangalore-Nanded Express fire, a family of four, who were in the train, were able to cherish a emotional reunion thanks to a mysterious saviour.
An unidentified man rescued the seven-year-old daughter of Veeresh Patil after the family lost sight of her for one nerve-wracking hour when the train caught fire. Patil, a native of Raichur who runs a digital systems business, was travelling with his wife and two children in the B-1 AC coach that caught fire early on Saturday morning.
“I usually never sleep while travelling at night. I was awake till 1:30 am but then dozed off. After some time, I heard screams and went to investigate. There was thick smoke all around. I rushed back and woke my wife and elder daughter. Thinking they would get the younger one, I cleared a path to the door and waited,” Patil told Express. He tried to break some windows on the coach but the glass did not crack even though Patil threw several objects at it.
Seeing that his family had not yet come to the exit, Patil headed back to the compartment. However, the fire had already crossed the berths allotted to his family.
“Scared that they were trapped in the fire, I went searching for them. I found my wife and elder daughter Sakshi huddled in a corner. They were safe but there was no sign of my younger daughter Shreya,” he recollected.
However, he heaved a sigh of relief after seeing Shreya standing outside with some people an hour later. “She told me a man had shown her the exit and asked her to go there. The man also helped Shreya get down from the burning compartment. I want to thank him for saving my daughter’s life,” he said with gratitude. He added he never thought a train could burn like this.