Hirakhand Express derailment: Elderly, kids forced to walk through farms

Visakhapatnam: Hundreds of passengers were stranded as several trains were halted or diverted on Sunday following the derailment of the Hirakhand Express near the Kuneru station in Vizianagaram.

The passengers were forced to walk a kilometre to the main road with luggage and children through farmlands to find an alternative way to reach their destinations.

The elderly, women and children had a tough time as their trains were stopped at some distance before the Kuneru station for hours on Sunday. Cashing in on the situation, autorickshaw drivers jacked up the fares charging Rs 150 to Rs 200 for each person to drop them to Parvathipuram, which is about 24 km from the accident spot. On normal days, it costs less than Rs 20 per person.

V. Sankara Rao, who boarded the Korba Express in Bhilai of Chhattisgarh, to travel to Visakhapatnam, narrated his bad experience following the derailment.
“Our train was stopped near Kuneru station. We came on to the main road to take an auto rickshaw. But it came as a shock to all the passengers when the auto-rickshaw drivers started demanding Rs 150 to take us to Parvathipuram, where we can find buses to Visakhapatnam,” said Sankara Rao.

M. Kanaka Mahalak-shmi said her troubles started after the train was halted near Kuneru Station. “I was heading to Visakhapatnam to my in-laws’ house with my children. We were left at a place where we could not see anything other than the farmlands. It was very difficult to find the road,” she said.

Help all the way:
A large numbers of locals came to the rescue of the victims of the Hirakhand Express derailment. Several NGOs and medical personnel extended their helping hand.

Besides, the BSF, local police, NDRF, RPF and railway teams, the doctors and nurses from neighbouring hospitals and primary health care centres were at the accident spot.