Akmul Ali and his wife managed to save one daughter but,in what will remain a lifelong regret,they couldnt save the other,who became one of the seven to die in the Doon Express fire early on Tuesday. I woke up when I heard loud noises by fellow passengers in the B1 coach. When I opened my eyes,I could see only flames,smoke and commotion, a tearful Ali said sitting at the spot. I quickly took my younger daughter in my arms and ran towards the B2 coach where my wife and another daughter were. But I could not make it due to the dense smoke and leaping flames.. Fortunately my wife managed to come out,but not my daughter. According to Ali,while the fire started around 2.30 am,the fire engine came from Dhanbad,47 km away,only around 5 am. Yet another passenger said the fire was spotted just when the train was approaching Parasnath,the famous Jain pilgrim centre. One of the passengers pulled the chain to stop the train and helped many of us disembark, he said,adding they rushed out leaving all their luggage behind. It took over three hours to douse the flames,he said. Minati Sarkar,a passenger in the B-1 coach,said a mothers cry for help will forever haunt her. I heard the children cry mummy! mummy! Their mother also ran around crying for help. It will haunt me throughout my life, she said,on arrival at Howrah station.
