quot;The engine sliced straight through our bogiequot;

LUDHIANA, Nov 27: Veenu Sagar, on board the first bogie of the Frontier Mail to be struck by the Shealdah Express engine, had a miraculous escape. A doctor at Delhi8217;s St Stephen8217;s College, she said, 8220;I was on berth number 3 in the S 2 coach. I had caught the Flying Mail because I had been told it would reach Ludhiana at 12:35 at night. Around 2 a.m., I got very impatient because my father would be waiting at the station for me. I put on my jacket and stood at the door for a while and then sat up reading a book.8221;

8220;I remember looking at my watch at 3:15 a.m. Two or three minutes later, there was a big jerk and a loud sound. I jumped off the berth and reached the door on the left of the bogie. Within seconds of the first jerk there was a tremendous noise. I turned around and saw the engine slicing through the right side of our bogie, crushing people. Our train was being pushed back. It was off the track and running on gravel. I just stood at the door, screaming O God! O God! I could feel fragments of woodand metal striking my back.8221;

8220;The train finally came to a stop. I jumped off and saw what had happened. S 1, the first coach that had derailed, had veered to one side and escaped the oncoming train. Our bogie took the brunt of the impact with the engine slicing straight through, leaving me unscathed. Somehow S 3 also escaped the impact but the engine had then ploughed over the coaches S 5, S 6, S 7 and S 8. It was pitch dark outside and a lot of people were standing there. People were yelling and crying. Many of them had severe injuries to their limbs. I was totally shaken but I escaped without even a bruise.8221;