In Punjab, Odisha train tragedy revives memories of similar accident in 1998

As visuals of the one of the worst train tragedies emerged, many in Punjab recalled that cold November 26 night of 1998 when Kolkata bound Sealdah Express had collided into the derailed coaches of the Frontier Mail that had fallen on an adjacent track, resulting in the death 212 passengers. As per the officials, the two trains together had more than 2,500 people on board. The accident took place near Kauri and Daudpur villages of Khanna.

While in Balasore, the derailment happened after Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, in Khanna, the coaches of the Frontier Mail were derailed reportedly after the hook joining two bogies broke.

For locals at the Kauri village and some people whose friends and relatives were in the two trains in the 1998 accident, the Friday night crash was nothing less than deja vu.

Khushpal Chand, a 70-year-old from Kauri, remembers the accident, which took place around 3.30am. “There was a loud noise. The villagers reached the site within minutes. Announcements were made from the gurdwaras to reach the spot with tractors and trolleys. The rescue work was launched using tractor’ headlights. We took several injured to the hospitals. For the others, the village women lit bonfires with paddy straw,” reminisced Khushpal.

Now posted as senior orthopaedic surgeon at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana, Dr Harpal Singh Selhi was then a young man. “Several of us doctors were sent to the spot. A Colonel and his sahayak were rescued. However, the officer’s leg had to be amputated from below the knee as it was crushed between two sleepers,” said Dr Selhi.

As locals pitched in with the rescue work, the ahrtiyas (commission agents) contributed by arranging langar, arranging tents. “They also ensured that those who had come looking for their relatives had a place to rest and sleep,” said Harbans Singh Rosha, president of Khanna Ahrtiya Association.

For some others, the accident rekindled the memories of loss. Dr Harsh Vivek Singh, now settled in Australia, took to Twitter as he recalled the Khanna accident. “Our friend Arshdeep Singh Walia, travelling from Delhi to Amritsar, was among the dead. We were pursuing MBBS at that time and Arshdeep was our junior. We finally traced his body to Patiala Medical College mortuary”.

Another doctor Shubhi Arora lost a relative in the accident. “She was my aunt’s daughter. She used to work in Delhi and was on way home in Amritsar to share the news that had US visa had been approved…tragic…”.