RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM/VIJAYAWADA: From soldiers who were returning home for holidays to a group of exuberant families who were heading to Rajamahendravaram to attend a wedding, and many like them were travelling on the Coromandel Express that met with a deadly accident on Friday night. Even as efforts are on to trace the whereabouts of hundreds of passengers, several Andhra-bound survivors, who escaped unscathed, narrated their horrifying tales of the ill-fated night.
Meet Srimantha Sumantha, a 36-year-old carpenter from Kolkata. He was travelling from Satraganchi (SRC) railway station for his carpentry works in Rajamahendravaram after a brief holiday at home. “After we crossed Balasore station, there was a jolt all of a sudden. The lights began to flicker. I heard a loud noise with columns of smoke filling the air. The next moment, I was on the ground,” said Srimantha, who was travelling in a three-tier AC coach.
“I struggled to stand on my feet as passengers fell upon each other. They were crying for help. Gathering all my strength, I slowly dragged myself out of the toppled compartment. I told myself that I had to survive and meet my children, wife, and parents. The accident spot looked like a graveyard with limbless bodies scattered on the tracks. My family arranged a taxi. I travelled back to Kolkata post midnight,” the migrant worker shared his ordeal even as he shrieked in fear.
We did not know what happened as our coach overturned, says survivor
Thirty one-year-old Jawan from Guntur, J Philip, had a similar tale to tell. Philip had boarded the train at Shalimar railway station on Friday morning to reach his native Tenali to spend his holidays with his family. He said that before anyone could react, the train came to a screeching halt and some people fell from the berth. “A child sitting beside me rolled beneath the lower berth. Luckily, our coach didn’t topple. I managed to get out of the compartment and helped others who were stuck in the wreckage. There would have been more casualties if the accident had happened while people were sleeping,” recounted Philip.
Umamaheswar, a 37-year-old soldier who hails from Eluru town, travelling on the train said it was a nightmarish experience. “I was talking with my co-passengers when we heard a huge bang. We did not know what was happening. Our coach overturned. We were terrified. We did not know what to do. We managed to pull ourselves out after some time,” Umamaheswar said, and added that he went to Kolkata for some work and was returning home.
His co-passengers M Raghu Babu and his wife M Bindusri, who hailed from Krishna district, said their survival was no less than a miracle. “After the train met with an accident, we came out of the coach and reached the nearest road. We arrived in Bhubaneswar and boarded another train to Andhra Pradesh,” he stated.
There were several families who were headed to different destinations to attend weddings. Addanki Venu Kumar, a 30-year-old, was travelling with his family to Rajamahendravaram from Kharagpur. This family comprised senior citizens, children and youngsters.
“We escaped from the jaws of death with minor injuries. It took us three hours to reach the nearest road. We somehow hired a taxi and reached Kharagpur,” he recounted. G Vivek and his mother G Satyavati were among the few who were cheerfully headed to Rajamahendravaram to attend a marriage. Luckily, they were not injured.
Many were clueless as the coaches derailed. Tanaya Nag, a native of Kharagpur, was on her way to Vijayawada along with her four family members, including a two-year-old child. “We could not understand what had happened. The entire train suddenly stopped and we were scattered inside the compartment. The local people rushed in and pulled us out. My younger daughter suffered a minor leg injury and was given first aid,” Tanaya shared her experience.