BHUBANESWAR: Lakshmeshvar Thakur from Madhubani district in Bihar was on the verge of a breakdown. After five days of a frantic search for his two cousins, who were on the ill-fated Coromandel Express, he managed to trace the duo but one was dead and the other grievously injured and admitted to the ICU at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.
Yet, his quest remains incomplete, as he hasn’t been able to ascertain the whereabouts of his four neighbours, who were found lying near the mangled coaches of Coromandel Express at the mishap spot on June 2. After getting information about the deadly train mishap at Bahanaga, Thakur rushed to Balasore on June 3 and started searching for his two cousin brothers -Ram Bharosh and Kuldeep - and four neighbours - Major Ray, Ranjit Ray, Amit Mondal and Salam Rain.
Thakur along with some of his family members and neighbours started looking for the whereabouts of the persons in hospitals at Soro, Balasore and Bhadrak after seeing them lying injured in a video.
“After searching continuously for four days in different places, I identified Kuldeep in a photo in AIIMS Bhubaneswar and received his body with the help of authorities. After sending the body back home, I started looking for others and informed the hospital staff about them. The staff asked me to visit the trauma care where a patient had been admitted recently. As I went there I found it was Ram Bharosh,” said an emotional Thakur.
Thakur, however, said he could not meet Ram as he has been admitted to the ICU in AIIMS trauma care after sustaining grievous injuries on his head in the mishap. While Thakur is glad he was reunited with his cousin, he said he is equally apprehensive about his four neighbours who remain untraced for the last six days.
“Though I visited a number of hospitals, I have not been able to find if they are alive,” he said.