Kanchanjunga Express accident | Injured passengers recount horror: ‘I will never feel safe when boarding a train again’

Among the many injured receiving treatment at North Bengal Medical College Hospital, which is around half an hour from the spot of the accident, was Dildar Hossain from Silchar. He was headed to Sealdah, from where he was to go to Bengaluru for work.

“I spoke to a man near the washroom, but minutes later, I saw him dead. I never thought life could be this unpredictable,” he said, shuddering.

“I don’t know whether to be happy that I escaped death, or to cry for those who lost their lives… I will never feel safe from now on whenever I board a train,” he said. He is getting treatment for multiple injuries, including a broken leg.

Paban Ravi Das, a resident of Malda, is undergoing treatment at the orthopaedic ward of the hospital. He said, “Suddenly, there was a jerk and I understood that the train had derailed. Then, I felt mounting pressure and I don’t know what happened after that. I just remember being rescued by a local resident, who helped me get into an ambulance. It was then that I saw a severed limb on the tracks. I will never forget this. It was horrifying.”

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met the injured at the hospital, and said the victims and their families would be given all assistance.

She also commended the efforts of doctors and nurses, as well as the police and the local community for their swift rescue operations.

Governor C V Ananda Bose also visited the injured.

“It is a tragedy, and we must stand together. All efforts are being made to give the best treatment to the injured persons. I met doctors, sisters, and others – they have assured all facilities for the injured,” Bose said.

“This is the time for us to come together. All stakeholders should stand together in this hour of crisis and be with the people who are the sufferers,” he said at the hospital.

Also among the injured was a family of seven, who lived just a stone’s throw away from the hospital. “We were a total of seven people going to Tarapith to worship Ma Kali. Now, we all are hospitalised. I couldn’t understand what happened,” said Nitai Pal.

‘Our roof has collapsed’

”The roof over our head has collapsed,” said Partha Das about the death of his cousin, 62-year-old Shankar Mohan Das.

Shankar, a railway employee whose retirement would have been two years ago but had his service extended, was in the parcel van of the Kanchanjunga Express when the accident took place.

He was on his way home, his cousin said. “This morning, at 7 am, he called his wife and said that he was coming home. Just two hours later, we came to know that a goods train collided with the train he was on. Some time after that, we were informed that our elder brother was no more,” Partha said.

Shankar was a resident of the Phoolbagan area of central Kolkata. He is survived by his mother, wife, two sons, and their families.

“Among the cousins, Shankar Da is the eldest. He was our shelter, like a roof over our heads. We would get advice from him all the time. Now, we have lost our shelter,” Shankar’s cousin said.