Friday nightmare

Siddhartha,who was supposed to join as a lecturer at the Vilaspur Dental College on Friday,was traveling along with his brother-in-law,in the ill-fated Jnaneswari Express.

After his bogey toppled,Siddhartha,who was badly injured,somehow managed to get out of the coach. He sat unattended for quite some time,before breathing his last. There was absolute chaos at the spot,with nobody to look after the injured victims, said the father,sobbing.

Haralal at least knows his son is dead,if that is any consolation. He cant think of anything worse.

But for many others like Lata De and Niladri De of Bhadreswar in Hooghly district,it was like groping in the dark with now news of their loved ones.

Latas husband Narugopal De 48,an employee in a factory at Tilaknagar near Mumbai,was travelling in coach S4. I cant contact him over the phone. I dont know where he is,how he is, said Lata,breaking down.

Niladris maternal uncle and aunt Dilip Bhattacharya 47 and Shivani Bhattacharya 35 were returning to their place in Madhya Pradesh,after spending the summer holidays with Niladri and his parents in Bhadreshwar.

They couldnt be contacted. I dont know whether they are still alive, said Niladri,waiting for the special train to leave.

Recounting her experience,Kasba resident Debasmita Majumder,a 21-year-old college student who survived, said she was going to Pune to appear for an interview at the Pune University.

We had just switched off the lights of

the compartment,when we heard a loud,crashing noise,and could feel the train going up. Within 10 seconds,a goods train crashed against our train,causing the bogeys to tumble up one above the other, said Debasmita.

Only three or four have come out of Coach S4 and none from S5. There was someone called Prasanta in our coach S7,who ensured that all 72 came out of the coach safely. We owe our lives to him, said Debasmitas father D P Majumder,as he waited beside his daughter,while she received first aid at the station.