Shah Mohammad along with other co-passengers swung into action to rescue trapped passengers
Bengaluru: Shah Mohammad Waheed was one of the lucky survivors of the ill-fated of Ernakulam-bound Intercity Express, which derailed killing nine people and injuring 18 others. However, he decided not to be a mere spectator and did his best to rescue the injured and provide them first aid.
Even before he could realise what was happening two coaches (D8 and D9) got completed mangled. He immediately swung into action to rescue those who were trapped in those coaches. He was visibly upset as no help came through from railway authorities or any other disaster management cells till 9.30 am, nearly two hours after the accident. It was the passengers and nearby villagers who came with their farm tools to rescued those trapped, he recalled. Villagers also came with water and a first aid kid to extend minor medical assistance. Some were taken to the nearby private hospitals, he added.
“I was seated in D6 and heard a loud noise and experienced a jerk around 7.40 am. When I came out and watched it was all over and I could see coaches piled up. Immediately, I along with other co-passengers swung into action to rescue those trapped,” he said.
“However, it was difficult for the passengers to rescue the trapped passengers because we did not have any tools. The villagers brought their farm tools and it was of great help,” he said. Later, he went to Majestic by bus and resumed his business trip to Coimbatore.
Of the nine dead, five victims were residents of Bengaluru. All nine have been identified as Punithavathi, 61, native of Coimbatore: Vipin V.V., 23, from Palkad; Amal Suresh, 9, from Bengaluru; K.R. George, 70, native of Thrissur; Aayesha Khan 30, from Bengaluru; Ittira Antony, 57, from Bengaluru; Naseema Khan, 67, from Bengaluru, C.R. Venugopal, 53, from Bengaluru; and Irsha Munaf 24, from Kollam. A helpline for the relatives was also set up at the hospital. One body brought to Anekal General Hospital remained unidentified until relatives picked him out.
Those injured
Another nine passengers who were seriously injured were referred from Anekal Taluk General Hospital to Sparsh, Victoria, Sanjay Gandhi and Oxford Hospitals in Bengaluru.
Nine other injured passengers are reported to be out of danger and undergoing treatment, said official sources from the railways.
The seriously injured passengers were identified as Vamadevan, 70, Sharmila, 38, A Ryzczak, 24, Nagavishnu, 27, Vasanthamani 48, Vipin U.N. 23, Salim, 42, Prashanth 26, Ashok Jain 40, and Shashidharan 50. There were 10 other passengers who sustained minor injuries and were discharged from hospital after they were given first aid.
Injured woman not told about her son’s death
It was heart wrenching for a man to convince his wife, who had sustained a fracture of her spinal cord in the Ernakulam-bound Intercity Express derail accident, that their son was alive and undergoing treatment in another room at the same hospital.
Sharmila, the 38-year-old mother, whenever she comes to her consciousness asks her husband Suresh, ‘Where is my Aman?’ And Suresh answers to her “Aman is getting treated at another room in the same hospital, don’t worry about him and you take proper rest,” while the father hides the bitter truth ‘acting like he is not crying’ that his 9-year-old son Aman was killed on the spot when the train derailed and the bogie that the duo were sitting crashed into another bogie.
Sharmila was a passenger with seat number D13 and Aman was sitting next to her in D14 in the D8 bogie and the duo were on their way to Thrissur for a health checkup. Sharmila had health issues and her relatives in Poovathur had suggested a treatment there. The mother and the son boarded the Ernakulam-bound Intercity Express at 6:15 in the morning from Majestic. Suresh, Sharmila’s husband, along with his 13-year-old daughter bid farewell to the mother-son duo and never in his wildest dream he thought he would get a call from a rescuer that the train has met with an accident.
Suresh, who works at the house of Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande as a cook, rushed to Anekal and enquired the rescue staffers where his son was. He could not digest the fact when one of the railway staffer told him that Aman, 9, was one among the dead and his body has been shifted to Anekal Hospital. Meanwhile, mother who suffered a spinal injury was unconscious and was admitted to Sparsh Hospital and is being told that her son is alive and getting treatment.
Aman’s body was later shifted to Victoria Hospital on Friday evening for post-mortem to be held on Saturday. Aman is a class three student of M.S. Convent in Manorayanpalaya. The family of four has been living in Sultanpalaya for the last 15 years.
( Source : dc )
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