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Shocked survivors recount tales of horror

A series of cracking sounds stunned passengers of the ill-fated Rajdhani Express out of their sleep as several bogies shook violently before going off the tracks while crossing a bridge over Dhave river, survivors recounted on Wednesday morning.

"Then I had a feeling that my bogie was turning upside down. Power supply suddenly snapped amid shrieks and wailing all around," said S N Chatterjee of Kadamtala, Howrah, with horror writ large on his face.

Chatterjee, who was injured in the accident, said he somehow managed to come out of the A-5 compartment of the train.

"It was the most horrific experience of my life, but what matters to me most is that I am still alive," Chatterjee said, as his relieved relatives took him home from Howrah station after he arrived in a special train shortly after 0200 hours (IST).

"I was woken by a series of cracking sounds. I don't know how I came out," said Chandan Das of Nagerbazar, North 24 Parganas district, a passenger in the worst-hit AS-1 coach.

Yet to get out of the shock, he spoke disjointedly about the ghastly sight he witnessed once he extricated himself. "Charidike shudhu domrano mochrano lash aar lash (there were only mangled deadbodies all around)."

"I think very few of the passengers in my coach escaped death," said Das, who was going to Delhi to collect his visa for Ireland.

B K Pakrashi, who had boarded the AS-6 coach, was trapped in the bogie for two hours along with scores of others.

"A sardarji finally broke the window pane and rescued me. He must have been sent by God," said Pakrashi, a lawyer who practices in the Supreme Court and the Calcutta high court.

"It was pitch dark, but I could gather that we were in a rural area," Pakrashi, who suffered leg injuries, said.

But all the survivors were unanimous about the inadequate relief and rescue operations at the site, where the most prestigious train of the Indian Railways lay in a shambles.

"Passengers whose injuries were not that serious got into the rescue act. The governement efforts were pathetic," said S N Chatterjee.

Pakrashi recalled that the official rescue operations began on Tuesday only after 0830 hours (IST), nearly 10 hours after the tragedy struck.

"I think one should move the National Human Rights Commission against the railways for the callous way they carried out the operations," he said angrily.

But unbridled was the joy of Pradip Das, who had been waiting at the station for more than six hours to get some information about his four relatives.

Das was ecstatic as his dear ones -- wife Aparna, brother-in-law Raju Das and his spouse Rupa, and sister-in-law Shilpi -- alighted from the special train.

However, Pradipta Bhattacharya was not so lucky. He was told by the railways that his friend's father Utpalendu Sarkar, who was injured in the accident, would be arriving by the special train.

Bhattacharya ran from one end of the train to the other, but the search proved futile.

"I don't know what I'll do now and where I'll go. They (railway authorities) cannot even tell me when the next train will arrive," he said.

All hope ran dry for the family of Suphal Mandal, a maintenance staff of Rajdhani.

Mandal was having dinner at the pantry car when the train derailed. The 24-year old youth died along with six of his colleagues.

The news was conveyed to his parents on Wednesday.

Complete Coverage: The Rajdhani Express Accident

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