Happy to return home: Survivors of North East Express derailment narrate experience

GUWAHATI: For college student Hitesh, it was divine intervention that ensured his safe homecoming at Sualkuchi in Assam, after the scary night in Bihar when their train derailed two days back.

Manohar Choudhury, on his second trip to this North Eastern State, too thanked his fate for surviving unscathed the accident.

Hitesh and Choudhury were among passengers of North East Express, several coaches of which jumped the track near Raghunathpur station in Bihar’s Buxar district on Wednesday night. A total of 311 of them reached Kamakhya station on Friday by a special relief train.

At least four people died and several others were injured when several coaches of the train, during its 33-hour-long journey from Delhi’s Anand Vihar station to Kamakhya in Guwahati, derailed.

A college student, Hitesh was part of a 14-member group of youngsters from his hometown Sualkuchi, about 30 kms from Guwahati, who had gone on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath temple.

“We feel it was due to the blessings of Kedarnath that we survived the accident. Our coach skidded off the tracks but did not fall sideways, because of which we were not injured perhaps.

“A woman and her daughter from Tinsukia (in Assam) were killed in the coach behind us. We had seen the lifeless body of the child,” Hitesh told PTI, narrating the horrors of the ill-fated night in a shaky voice.

Choudhury said the accident was preceded by a loud sound and the coach screeching to a sudden halt.

“Ours was the third coach from the engine. We heard a loud sound and then, the train came to a standstill. Luckily, our coach did not derail,” the resident of Rajasthan, who was travelling to Jorhat on his second trip to Assam, said.

Choudhury and his two friends, all on a business trip, remained unharmed as they held tightly to their seats after hearing the sound.

“Those who were sleeping or standing in our coach fell in different directions under the impact of the train coming to a halt. We have to thank our stars for not suffering any injuries,” he added.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had arranged for their onward journey to Jorhat by train and they are happy to have reached their destination safely.

A total of 1,006 people travelled in the relief train, and passengers disembarked at their respective stations along the way, NFR chief public relations officer Sabyasachi De said.

Hitesh appreciated the help of the local people and NFR after the accident.

“The people there were very helpful. Even here, though initially transport was being provided to a nearby spot. But when we requested, the NFR arranged that we were dropped at our homes,” he added.

A pantry car staff, who also reached Guwahati in the relief train, did not escape unharmed, as Hitesh and Choudhury.

“I was moving towards the pantry car when the train suddenly started shaking. I remember losing the grip of my hand and falling on the floor. I regained consciousness three hours later,” he told reporters at the Kamakhya railway station as medical attendants took him away in a wheelchair for further treatment.

As the survivors disembarked at the station, fatigue, as well as relief, was clear on their faces as they made their way out to their waiting near and dear ones.