Sparks from overhead line, a violent shake and our coach derailed: Passenger

CHENNAI: The deadly Coromandel Express derailment at Bahanaga Bazar near Balasore in Odisha could have been deadlier, eyewitness accounts suggest. A passenger, who was on board the derailed express train bound for Chennai from Shalimar in West Bengal, told DT Next over phone that another passenger train had crossed just seconds before their coach got derailed and came to a halt.

‘Alangulam’ Ramesh, a Christian missionary from Jharkhand who was returning to his native Alangulam in Tenkasi district told this reporter over phone: “The train left at 3.20 PM from Shalimar where I boarded. The accident happened between 6.45 PM and 7 PM, just outside a village with a Bazaar. I was on board in an AC tier-II coach which was at the rear end of the train. I was watching through the window.

“Another train in the opposite direction (towards Kolkata) had just crossed our coach on the parallel track. A couple of seconds later, I saw the overhead electric wires close to our train falling apart with sparks emanating from above. Our coach shook violently. A few seconds later our coach came off the track with a banging and shrieking noise and stopped.”

“I realised that something was amiss. I and a few other passengers on board got down anxiously. One by one everyone came out. It was dim. A couple of coaches ahead of us, we found several coaches piled up one over another. I saw B1 and B2 coaches (third AC) had sustained more damage compared to ours. The second AC coach I was in and those behind us had come off the track, except other coaches. I saw at least one coach lying around 50 feet away from the track. We could not move to the front.

“We were told that the Coromandel Express had rammed into a goods train. The coaches were piled up one on another. Also, it was dark and the surrounding vegetation had thorny bushes. So, we could not proceed further. We moved as much as we could. I was there till 7.30 pm. I saw dead bodies. A few people had lost their limbs. People were trapped inside the piled up, mangled coaches. It was scary. I feel sorry for them.

“Meanwhile, the police turned up and made us leave the site. We walked in the opposition direction (rear) towards Kolkata. I walked over a kilometre and reached a place from where I took a bus to Bhubaneswar,” said Ramesh. Honking of the bus could be heard in the background.

“I wonder what would have been my fate,” he shared how miraculously he escaped from the worst train accident.

“We found several coaches piled up one over another. I saw B1 and B2 coaches (third AC) had sustained more damage,” Ramesh said