RAYAGADA: “We saw death whisk past us,” said survivors of the ill-fated Bhubaneswar-bound Hirakhand Express that claimed 40 lives and left nearly 69 injured on Saturday, about 30 minutes before midnight.
Shaken to the core and yet to come out of the trauma, some of the survivors recounted how they were jolted out of their berths, a few seconds after they heard some strange rattling sound of the wheels.
Sudhir Panda of Brahmin Street in Rayagada town, who had boarded S9 coach of the train along with his family of four at Rayagada station, said the train left at right time at 10.30 pm and the family was excited about attending a relative’s marriage in Bhubaneswar.
“After barely covering 25 km when we reached signal cabin of Kuneru station, we heard an ear-piercing rattling sound and heavy skidding. Soon we came to know that the train went off the track and hit a stationary goods train. The S9 bogie tilted to one side injuring many passengers but my family members were lucky to survive with minor injuries. By then, the general bogie, besides S8, S7 and S6, were heavily damaged and we could hear wailing and screaming of the passengers.”
But luck did not smile on the Pandits. Ram Prasad Pandit, a Government servant of Rayagada town, his wife Yashoda and daughter Tejaswini were to visit Puri to seek the Lord’s blessings for their daughter’s wedding. While the couple died in the accident, Tejaswini sustained injuries on her legs and is undergoing treatment at Parvathipuram hospital in Andhra Pradesh.
“Tejaswini was in upper berth. She fortunately survived, but lost her parents. Their bodies are beyond recognition as the compartment got completely crushed. Her parents were very happy as her marriage was scheduled in March. She remained unconscious throughout the day. How will I inform her that her parents are no more,” said Bhushan Pandit, her uncle, breaking into tears. Several of the injured have been admitted in Rayagada DHH and other hospitals of Andhra Pradesh.
Soon after the accident, Rayagada Collector Guha Punam Tapas Kumar and SP K Siba Subramani rushed to the spot along with paramilitary forces and supervised rescue operations.
DIG, CRPF, P K Nayak and Commandant Manoj Sharma also reached the spot to expedite the rescue operation. The NDRF, ODRAF, fire brigade, SOG and DVF were pressed into rescue operation. Divisional Railway Manager, East Coast Railway, Visakhapatnam, Chandralekha Mukharjee also reached the spot with a technical team on Sunday morning. General Manager of ECoR Umesh Singh, who reached the accident site, said technical snag is being suspected as the reason behind the accident.
The Railway officials have so far identified 26 bodies of the 40 passengers who died in Hirakhand Express accident in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district.
Those identified are: K Revati (16) of Vizianagaram, Ramaprasad Pandit (55) of Rayagada and his wife Jashoda Pandit (45); Bishnu Sahu (58), Subash Sahu and Kartik Sahu, all three residents of Bissamcuttack; Gayatri Sahu (14) and Sobhabati Sahu of Kalyansinghpur in Rayagada district; Soma Amnna (50) of Salur in Andhra Pradesh; Chilki Damini (8), Pooladevi (60), Saheeda Aman (10) and Kareena Devi (12), all four from Bihar; Ranjan Naik (21) of Kashipur in Rayagada district; S Renuka (40) and B Kamala (60) of Jorada in Ganjam district; PK Minz, (45), a CRPF head constable of 8th battalion at Muniguda in Rayagada district; P Polisetty (36) of Palasa in Andhra Pradesh; K Ravi Kumar (20) of Vizianagaram in AP; M Balaram (50) of Parvatipuram in AP; Tapan Kumar Pradhan of Rayagada; M Ramakrishna (35); P Srinu, Benudhar Bhoi, Rohit Pradhan and Hari Sankar Majhi.