Survivors of Odisha train disaster recount harrowing ordeal

“We never thought we would see you again. Many passengers around us died on the spot. It’s a rebirth for us, all thanks to the almighty,” said survivors of the triple train wreck who reached Vijayawada on a special train from Balasore on Saturday

“We never thought we would see you again. Many passengers around us died on the spot. It’s a rebirth for us, all thanks to the almighty,” said a survivor of the triple train wreck who reached Vijayawada on a special train from Balasore on Saturday.

The survivors shuddered as they recounted details of the horrific accident. “It was dark outside and the train had just crossed Balasore railway station and was near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station. It was going at a high speed, when suddenly there was a deafening noise and we were flung around. The coach rolled upside down, and the passengers began screaming in fear. I thought I was going to die,” said Abu Kasim Laskar, a cloth merchant who had boarded the Coromandel Express in Kolkata.

“It was pitch-dark outside and I was stuck in the coach and could not see anything. After what seemed like an interminable wait, rescuers came to the spot and extricated me from the coach,” Mr. Laskar told The Hindu at Vijayawada Railway Station.

Another passenger, Lakshmi Biswas, who escaped unhurt, said many of the passengers were stuck in the mangled coaches and were crying for their loved ones. “I will be forever grateful to the rescuers for saving my life,” Ms. Lakshmi said, who alighted at the station with her two children.

MLAs Velampalli Srinivas, Malladi Vishnu and YSRCP leader Devineni Avinash, who interacted with the survivors, said that the State government had sent teams to the accident site to assist the victims and take up rehabilitation operations.

NTR District Collector S. Dilli Rao said that instructions have been issued to railway officials and Revenue officials to provide accommodation and transportation to the accident victims who returned to Vijayawada on the special train.