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Chaos at Howrah station as relatives beg for information about friends, family

Anxious relatives of the passengers of Rajdhani Express, which met with an accident at Rafiganj in Bihar on Monday night, had a harrowing time at Howrah station on Tuesday as they begged railway officials for morsels of information about their near and dear ones.

There was a steady flow of people seeking information about the mishap at the emergency information centre since the early hours of the day. But there was hardly any information available -- no complete list of passengers, no information about the bogies worst hit in the mishap, no information about arrangements made to take people to the accident spot.

"My mother was in the coach which fell into the river, but I have no information about her. Whatever information I have got is through the media. The railway people have not been able to give any information," a young man told a news channel.

He said initially he was told a special train would leave for the site of the accident in the morning, but the departure of the train was delayed by several hours.

A number of people were seen crying, while others engaged in heated arguments with railway officials.

Former member of Parliament from Howrah, Susanta Chakrabarty was also on the train. His brother, Swapan Chakrabarty, said there was no information about him.

Former railway minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who reached Howrah early in the morning, also complained of lack of information with the railway officials.

PTI

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