Bangalore: Life imitating art? In a bizarre development that seemed like a scene straight out of the movies, 31-year-old N. Kishore Kumar, a resident of K.R. Puram in Bangalore, who works as a software engineer in the city has returned from the dead.
Kumar’s name was listed as one of the 26 who died in the Bangalore-Nanded express train fire, when in fact, he wasn't even on the train!
“Since Saturday I have been calling railway officials to tell them that I am alive and had not died in the train fire. I was at home in Kadapa. I had caught a bus home a day earlier,” said.
Kumar, who had booked Berth 23 in the B1 bogey that went up in flames but didn’t have time to cancel his rail ticket. With Kumar’s body unaccounted for, the Railways jumped to the wrong conclusions, raising serious questions about the body’s less than efficient monitoring of passengers on the turn of the century transport network.
‘I am not dead’: ‘Missing’ person from AC coach
For 31-year-old N. Kishore Kumar, whose name was among the four missing persons presumed dead, it feels like a new lease of life.
Berth 23 in the B1 bogey of Bangalore-Nanded Express that went up in flames on Saturday had been reserved in Kishore’s name. However, fortune favoured this software engineer who took a bus to his hometown of Kadapa on Thursday night because of a family emergency.
As he was pressed for time, Kishore could not cancel the ticket on the train that left the city around 10.45 pm on Friday. Railway officials presumed Kishore dead as his body was not among the 26 deceased.
“I have been calling the railway officials since the incident occurred to inform them that I am alive, not dead. My name was being flashed under the ‘missing and presumed dead’ list on TV channels and newspapers. Fortunately, I was with my family in Kadapa when news of the fire broke, so they did not panic. They, however, got a few calls from some relatives asking if I was dead or alive,” said Kishore, who is a resident of K R Puram and works as a software engineer with a private firm in the city.
“I cannot describe how lucky I feel. I was supposed to visit my in-laws in Guntakal, Anantpur, and had booked tickets to leave on Friday. On Thursday evening, I got a call from my family asking me to come to Kadapa at once, so my mother and I took a bus that same night. Since I couldn’t cancel my train ticket on time, the authorities must have presumed that I had died in the fire or gone missing. I finally managed to contact them on Monday and inform them that I was safe,” he said.
Railway officers confirmed the deaths of B. Sreenivas (28) and Pratap Vinay (43), whose names were also on the missing list.
M. Anil Kumar (43), the fourth passenger listed as presumed dead, was found to be safe after railway officials visited the address listed under his name in the booking.
“We tried contacting Anil Kumar on the phone number given in the reservation details, but it was not reachable. On Monday afternoon, we got a call from our colleagues who went to his house in Adoni and found him out of harm’s way. He told us that he jumped out of the train when the fire started and caught a bus back home. He has not sustained any injuries,” said Gopinath, railways divisional commercial manager.
Next: Railway officials pay Rs 50k to kin
Railway officials pay Rs 50k to kin
Of the 26 charred bodies that were taken to Victoria Hospital mortuary after the inferno that consumed an entire AC coach of the Bangalore-Nanded Express early on Saturday, 13 bodies have been handed over to their relatives so far.
The bodies of 70-year-old S.R. Krishnamurthy and Anirudh Kulkarni (24) were claimed by family members on Monday afternoon. Authorities said the body of Pratap Vinay (43) would be sent to his home town in Bihar by the 4.45 am flight on Tuesday.
“The families of 13 victims were given Rs 50,000 on the spot when they came to take the bodies. They will have to write to the Railway Claims Tribunal and claim the rest of the compensation. We have also paid Rs 25,000 to each of the four victims who were grievously injured, as well as Rs 5,000 to one passenger who sustained minor burns. All flight, ambulance and boarding and lodging charges have been taken care of by the Railways. For those who have to take the bodies to far-off places by road, we have arranged for ambulances fitted with coolers,” said Dr Vishwanath, Medical Officer, South Western Railways.
Six of the remaining 13 bodies have reportedly been identified by relatives. Seven more bodies are awaiting ID confirmation through DNA testing, the results of which are expected to be out by 4.30 pm on Tuesday.
