Odisha train tragedy: Survivors from Bengal in a state of shock

Kolkata, June 3 (IANS) Sayantani Ghosh, a resident of Picnic Garden in South Kolkata, is still in a state of shock and cannot believe that she has been able to come back to her home alive along with her three-year-old daughter.

"I was going to Chennai by the Coromandel Express with my daughter to meet my husband, who stays there for professional reasons. I was travelling in the A1 coupe. Suddenly there were two massive jerks. The impact was such that many fell down on the floor. Fortunately, most of the passengers were occupying the lower berths then. Otherwise the casualties could have been much more," she said.

Ghosh is the survivor of the ghastly train accident in Odisha's Balasore district on Friday which claimed 288 lives besides leaving over 800 others injured.

According to Ghosh, she is still in a shock thinking of the scene at the accident spot. She still cannot believe that she has ultimately been able to return home unharmed on Saturday with her daughter.

"But whenever I close my eyes, the screams of the injured passengers and the smashed bodies haunt me," Ghosh said.

Putu Sheikh, a migratory worker from East Burdwan district, and 10 of his friends had a narrow escape on Friday.

"We were travelling by that train in search of a job in South India. Suddenly, we heard a massive sound and felt successive jerks. The lights in the compartment got switched off. We somehow managed to get out of the train. The screams of the injured were haunting. There were piles of bodies... I am really scared to travel by train again," he said.

However, there was no good news for the family members of Pinaki Mondal, a resident of Shyampur in Howrah.

"My father used to stay in Odisha to earn his livelihood. Recently he came home to meet us and he was going back on Friday by that train. In the evening, we heard of the accident. Finally, this morning we came to know that my father is no more," said a sobbing Barsha Mondal, the victim's daughter.

There is also no news about Chandan Roy and his relative Nityam Roy, both residents of South Dinajpur district, who were travelling by that ill-fated train.

Nityam's wife Chandana Roy told newspersons that after she received the news of the accident, she called up both of them.

"Chandan's mobile phone was switched off. When I called Nitaym, someone else picked up the call and informed me that the owner of the phone has died. Then that phone first got disconnected and then got switched off. However, there is no confirmation of what I was told. I am feeling clueless," she said.