The Coromandel Express was moving at a high speed on Friday evening. Inside the packed unreserved compartment, Ompal Baitha Kumar was struggling to stand when a sudden jolt hit him.
Kumar, from Majuri village in Bihar’s Gaya district, couldn’t keep his balance. He tried clinging on to a chain that was dangling but fell down. Kumar thought he might not be able to breathe for long.
“For some time I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. It was all darkness and passengers started falling on me one after another. I almost choked,” Kumar recounted his ordeal on Saturday at Howrah station.
The man, around 30, was waiting to catch the Mithila Express and return home.
He had boarded the Coromandel Express on his way to Chennai, where he worked at a furniture factory.
The trauma of living a near-death experience left him edgy hours after he managed to extricate himself and find his way back to Kharagpur before reaching Howrah station on Saturday afternoon.
“Cries and wails filled the compartment as I struggled to move and turn on one side. Passengers and luggage lay in a heap and I realised that I had to move out,” Kumar said.
“I lifted my hands and pushed aside some passengers lying on me before making my way out. It was dark and I could hear children cry.”
Since the time Kumar and three others had boarded the train from Shalimar station on Friday afternoon, they have not been able to seat. The compartment was packed beyond capacity and the majority of the passengers were young workers headed for Chennai.
“I managed to crouch and realised that my bags lay between my legs. The doors of the compartment were not visible.There was a window with a glass cover some steps away. I joined a few others in breaking it open and managed to wriggle out, pulling along my bags,” he said. “Once I was out of the coach, I stood up and saw 20-25 persons pouring out of windows. The rest seemed trapped inside.”
Nayan Sheikh, from Ketugram in East Burdwan district, was another passenger Metro spoke to who had a near-death experience. The 22-year-old was on his way to Chennai to join a team of construction workers as mason.
“My son called me after the accident to inform me he was injured,” said Sarifa Bibi, who sells lemons near Howrah station.
“They were a team of seven. He said he had hurt his hip and shoulders and could somehow squeeze his way out of the compartment,” the mother said.
Unlike Kumar, Nayan has lost his belongings — and possibly his chance to get a job in Chennai at least for now — but the mother was happy that her son was alive. “He said there were many who have survived with flesh torn off their bodies or with hip fractures. Nayanhasn’t suffered such serious injuries,” she said.
