Bangalore: Chaos and confusion reigned as distraught relatives flocked to Victoria Hospital mortuary seeking information about their loved ones, who were onboard the ill-fated compartment of the Bangalore-Nanded Express that caught fire in the early hours of Saturday in Anantpur district, killing 26 people.
The charred bodies were sent back to Bengaluru in ambulances and arrived at Victoria Hospital around 4 pm, where the identities of the deceased were to be ascertained through DNA verification.
However, several people complained that the initial information provided to them by authorities was vague and that they had no way of knowing whether their loved ones were safe or not.
“My sister-in-law Dr Asra, her two-and-a-half year old son Mohammed, and her brother-in-law Ibrahim Rahi were seated in B14 and 15. Now we do not even know if they are alive. Since we heard the news this morning, we have tried calling them both a hundred times, but have not gotten through. Their names are not even mentioned on the list of the dead and injured people that the authorities showed us. We do not know where to turn,” lamented Dr Imran, a close relative.
Another passenger whose kin were troubled by the lack of validation is 48-year-old Subhash Reddy Patil, also a native of Raichur. Subhash, who is the director of the Karnataka State Co-operative Federation, reportedly boarded the ill-fated train on Friday night and informed his family in Raichur that he was coming home.
“The last contact Subhash had with his family was around 10 pm when he called to tell them that though he had been unable to book a ticket, he managed to get in after being waitlisted and would be home soon. However, his phone has been switched off since news of the fire broke and we have been unable to reach him. His name is also not among those listed as dead, but his brother has arrived from Raichur to try and identify if one of the charred bodies is his,” said Yeshwanthpur MLA S.T. Somashekar, who visited the mortuary.
He is said to have been wearing a gold bracelet and a pendant which could help his family during identification.
Home Minister K.J. George also visited the hospital around 7 pm on Saturday.
He said, “So far, nine of the 26 bodies have been identified correctly. The post-mortem will be conducted and the bodies will be handed over to family members. Meanwhile, DNA verification is still going on to determine the identities of the rest of the bodies.”
Rs 5 Lakh for kin
Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those who died in the train tragedy.
Those with serious injuries will be given Rs 1 lakh and those with minor injuries will get Rs 50,000.
Kharge told reporters that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called him and sought the full details regarding the accident and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
On the cause of the accident, Kharge said that the reason for the fire mishap is yet to be ascertained.
He also added that only nine bodies had been identified so far and efforts were on to find the kin of the victims through the addresses given by them or through their mobile phones.
Meanwhile Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said prima facie there could be two reasons — one is short circuit and the other presence of inflammable material.
Next: Hope, desperation outside Victoria Hospital
Hope, desperation outside Victoria Hospital
Joyeeta Chakravorty | DC
Bangalore: It was chaos and confusion outside the Department of Forensic Medicines at Victoria Hospital as relatives, colleagues and friends awaited for the list of survivors and the deceased in the Bangalore-Nanded Express Train that caught fire in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh early on Saturday.
ComplÂetely charred bodies wrapped in green tarpaulin sheets arrived in four ambulances on Saturday evening at the department for DNA tests. Relatives huddled around ambulances and spoke to police officials, inquiring about the details of their loved ones.
Twin sisters, Padmina and Lalitha (61), were confirmed dead, and their relatives said, "They came to this earth together and left us together."
The sisters were musicians and were heading for a concert in Raichur. "Padmina's husband Narahari Rao survived the accident," said Chandrashekhar, a relative.
Colleagues of 24-year-old Aniruddha KulkÂarni, a software engineer working with IBM, who was headed for Nanded, were completely clueless on the fate of their friend.
“We saw the news breaking on TV channels and rushed here,” said Deeptesh Sahu, AniruÂddha’s friend. “Maybe he has survived, maybe he has jumped off the train… we are not sure,” his friends said. But they said that when they called Aniruddha’s cell phone, someone received the call and said that he was dead. “He was sitting right opposite a survivor. Probably, he too has survived,” they said with hope.
Who would have thought that six months into their marriage, Sreelatha (26) and Srinivas (28) would have such an end.
The couple, who were software engineers working in the city, were heading to Srinivas’s hometown for a vacation. Their relatives said that the police had not yet confirmed whether the couple was dead.
Kamaljeet Singh, an administrative officer of New India Assurance was heading to Nanded to visit a Gurdwara with his family. He was travelling with his wife Balveer Kaur and daughter Amaan Kaur and their tickets were confirmed at the last minute.
Both Singh and his wife had a seat in the B1 coach and Amaan had her seat in a different coach. Amaan switched seats with Singh as she wanted to sleep with her mother.
Both of them are dead, while Kamaljeet survived, confirmed Singh’s colleagues. Relatives of 70-year-old Krishnamurthy, a music critic who was going to Raichur, was also confirmed dead.
Forensic Department director Devdas said, “Twelve people have been injured and eight people in that coach cannot be traced. Among the dead, 12 were women, twelve men and
two children.”
Next: New Lease of life for Father and Son
New Lease of life for Father and Son
In the midst of the catastrophic fire that claimed the lives of 26 passengers comes the heart-warming tale of a joyous reunion between a father and son who both jumped from opposite sides of the train when it caught fire, but presumed the other to be dead.
“We woke up around 3.20 am to the smell of acrid, burning cables, and realised that the train was on fire. It started right in the middle of the compartment and someone pulled the chain.
While the train began coming to a halt, I managed to jump out from the door on the right side of the bogey, but could not find my father. Imagine my joy when I made my way around the other side of the train and saw him!” recalled software engineer Manjunath Patil.
Manjunath and his septuagenarian father, M B Patil, had booked their tickets on the Bangalore-Nanded express a month ago.
“When the fire broke out, we had no time to second-guess anything. I didn’t know whether to save myself or the others in the ensuing chaos. My mobile phone and bag were burnt to ashes in the incident, but I can not be gratÂeful enough that my father is alive,” he said.
The elderly Patil who jumped off from the left side of the train reportedly sustained minor burns on his left leg when his pant caught fire. When father and son reunited, they called their family in Bengaluru and informed them that they were safe.
5 from raichur dead
Five people, including a three-year-old boy, from Raichur died in the train accident on Saturday. Railway sources said that 10 people were travelling from Bengaluru to Raichur in the B1 coach.
They were Padmini C.N. (61), Vijaya (63), Dr Narahari Rao (61), R. Ramamurthy (68), Rahul (25), Dr Ashra (31), Nagesh Rao (32), Ibrahim Rahi (31), Krishnamurthy (70) and Lalita (61).
After they received information about the accident, family members of Dr Ashra went to the accident spot in two vehicles from Raichur. Dr Ashra was pursuing her post-graduation in medicine at Navodaya Medical Collegein Raichur.
Dr Shivaraj Patil, Raichur City MLA, said that Dr Ashra along with her son Ishan and brother-in-law Ibrahim Rahi were in the coach that caught fire.
“We did not have any information about them till late Saturday evening,” he said. Dr Ashra’s husband S.S. Rahi works as a radiologist at Raichur Diagnostic Centre.
On noticing the inferno in B1 coach, a railway helper pulled the emergency chain and stopped the train. He rushed to the engine and told the drivers to detach the B1 coach from the other compartments of the train and they followed his instructions.
The presence of mind of the helper prevented the fire from spreading to the other compartments behind it, said Ravikumar, a passenger travelling in the train, at the Raichur railway station.
13 from Maharashtra
Thirteen passengers from Maharashtra have been identified amongst the 26 who were charred to death in the ill-fated Bangalore-Nanded Express, whose AC compartment caught fire on Saturday.
The Nanded district administration has flashed their names and is trying to get in touch with the families. According to the Nanded District Collector Dheeraj Kumar, seven passengers are from Nanded, three from Parbhani and three from Purna.
The Nanded residents have been identified as Rakhi, Premlata, Dalwinder Kaur, Anil Kulkarni, M. D. Patil, Manjunath Patil, Rathi Chandrapal and Tanuja Jayrath.
The Parbhani-based victims have been identified as Kavita Nagre, Ishwar Nagre and Jay Nagre, while the Purna-based Purna victims have been identified as K. Oran, his wife and L. Oran.
“Relatives of the Nagre family have already left for Bengaluru on their own. We are flashing the victims’ names through our local government offices and the media so that the victims’ relatives can get in touch with us to leave for Bengaluru,” the Collector said.
