Khanna rail accident toll may cross 200
Tribune News Service

KHANNA, Nov 27 — Death toll is rising steadily in yesterday's train disaster near here and may well cross the 200 mark as hundreds of workers are still engaged in round-the-clock relief and rescue operations.

One hundred and eightfive bodies had been extricated from the twisted wreckage of the bogies of the ill-fated Sealdah Express and the Frontier Mail by this afternoon and removed to the Sports Ground of A S College, Khanna where their post-mortem was conducted. The rescue workers were trying to reach a bogie lying crushed under the diesel engine of the Sealdah Express. The bogie is stated to contain a large number of dead, some of them visible from the outside.

Cranes pull out portions of the Sealdah Express engine to reach a coach underneath as rescue workers look for bodies still trapped in the wreckage. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

The bodies have begun to decompose forcing rescue workers to cover their nose and mouth to ward off smell.

The rescue workers were finding it difficult to lift the diesel engine weighing nearly 110 tonnes despite the fact that four heavy duty cranes — two belonging to the Railways, one from the Pong Dam and one from the Army — had been pressed into service to clear the wreckage. The death toll is expected to mount further once that bogie was reached. "It is a massive job", Mr R S Grover, Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, told TNS at the accident site.

"We will have to cut open the roof of the compartment once we remove the engine which in turn is weighed down by another smashed bogie lying on its side." About 100 bodies had been identified by the kith and kin of the victims and claimed by this afternoon. An accident information centre has been set up at the college grounds manned by policemen. Railway officials and doctors, several local voluntary bodies have also opened counters for supplying food, tea and refreshments to the visitors.

A steady stream of distraught kith and kin of the accident victims poured into the college compound where the bodies had been kept on ice. Many of them were seen crying as they lifted shroud to identify their relatives. Most of the bodies were badly mutilated. While police officials prepared "panchnamas" the railway officials made on-the-spot payment of the ex gratia of Rs 25,000 to the relatives of each of the victims. Wooden crates were supplied to those wanting to carry the bodies to distant places.

According to Dr G.P. Chander, Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, all the bodies which had not been claimed so far were being shifted to Patiala. Mr A Venuparsad, an IAS officer, who along with Mr Arun Goel, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, was supervising rescue operations, said that he did not expect any survivors in the wreckage. Patient handling of the operations by the rescue workers saved many lives. One accident victim, trapped in the wreckage, asked them repeatedly to amputate his both legs in order to extricate him. But rescue workers worked steadily with gas cutters to reach him through the wreckage and bring him out with only minor injuries. An Army officer was similarly rescued. Losing only three fingers of his hand.

Mr SK Mehta, General Manager, Northern Railways, said that one railway track had been cleared and repaired. Efforts were being made to clear and repair the second track also as soon as possible. Traffic on it was expected to be restored before long.

Kauri residents bring succour
From A S Prashar and
Ruchika Mohindra
Tribune News Service

KAURI VILLAGE (Khanna), Nov 27 — Residents of four villages around the site of the rail disaster yesterday rose like one man to rescue the victims of the ill-fated trains and provide succour to them. Village of Kauri, Daudpur, Libra and Buha Majra were the first to come to the aid of the victims. "I was fast asleep when I heard a loud noise shortly after three in the morning," recalls Gurmail Singh (30), a resident of village Kauri, whose pucca house is nearest to the site of the accident." I got up immediately and came out of my house but could not see anything. I was badly frightened. I saw that many other residents of the village had also woken up and were peering into the darkness curiously. I was still debating what to do next when some Army jawans came running and summoned me and others for help." After some hesitation, he and other residents rushed to the site of the accident.

Announcements were made on the loudspeaker of the village gurdwara and soon the entire village was up and about. "The scene at the accident site was indescribable. Coaches had been smashed. There was hue and cry all around. It was pitch dark. Some of us broke open the panes and cut the iron grills with axes and saws so as to gain access to the blood-drenched victims."

Relatives console one another after the tragedy. — A Tribune photo

Gurmail Singh says that he could not say how many victims were rescued and how many were dead and how many alive. There was no time. We just tried to get everybody out." In the meantime, more residents came with tractor trailers and trucks and worked in the light provided by their head lamps.

Village women set up langar and prepared tea, "we collected a lot of rice straw and set it on fire to keep the victims warm," recalls Mrs Pritam Kaur. "We also provided them with tea and blankets. Official help came much later."

A good samaritan from Khanna town showed a four-year-old boy to the TNS team "I found him crying inconsolably near the accident site yesterday," said Mr Yash Pal Gomi who lives near police station (city), Khanna. "I brought him home and comforted him. He cried non-stop almost throughout the day. Today, he is better and has given his name as Shubam. He says that his father and mother have died in the accident. They were residents of Rohini, New Delhi, and were returning home after a visit to the Vaishno Devi," Mr Gomi can be contacted on telephone numbers: 101, and 22602. Among those dead in the accident was Mr Ramesh Chand (36), an assistant officer in the LIC posted at Amritsar. He had gone to Delhi to cast his vote in Wednesday's election. He died in the train crash while on his way back home to Amritsar.

The victims of the train accident at Kauri admitted in various hospitals in Ludhiana are still too dazed to recall the incident.

A visit to the various hospitals by the team revealed that while most of the injured admitted in various hospitals have been either discharged or have left against medical advise. The ones still recuperating in the hospitals shudder when they talk about the accident. As many as eight patients were still admitted in the civil hospital. Three of them being children. An unidentified year-old child with severe wounds in its face and head, was seen wailing as he could not find any familiar faces around him. Two boys, Kapil (13) and Parveen (10) also admitted in the civil hospital, who were returning to Dehra Dun after a visit to the Vaishno Devi, with their parents, aunt and elder brother, lay on the hospital beds unaware of the demise of all the other members of their family.

Twelve of the victims admitted to the Christian Medical College and Hospital have been discharged. However, the Medical Superintendent, Dr Kim Memon, informed that out of the 40 patients still admitted in the hospital, one was in a critical state and three of them were serious.

In Dayanand Medical College and Hospital Ashok Kumar succumbed to his injuries. While three patients were discharged, at present, 24 of the accident victims were still admitted in the hospital.

Meanwhile, the workers of Punjab Youth Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal have organised camps at the hospitals were providing food and milk to the victims. Information regarding the dead and injured admitted in various hospitals is also available at website with number "punjab govt. nic. in and 222-nic.in/punjab".

Probe into accident begins
Tribune News Service

KHANNA, Nov 27 — Although a formal inquiry ordered by the Union Minister for Railways, Mr Nitish Kumar, to establish the real cause of the accident opened today, preliminary reports about the cause of accident reveal that the derailment of the coaches of the Frontier Mail Golden Temple Express was caused when coupling of a coach came off.

The three bogies of the Frontier Express from where the coupling came off, derailed and fell on the other track. The Sealdah Express, that was coming from the opposite direction, at precisely the same time had a head-on collision with the derailed bogies. Official sources had earlier revealed that both the trains had also given a passing signal to one another. The accident could have taken place within 50 seconds.

An alert gateman noticed that the bogies blocking the tracks and rang up Ludhiana railway station to sound a warning. But it was too late. The Sealdah Express had already left Ludhiana railway station and was speeding towards Khanna at about 100 km per hour. The gateman and driver of the Frontier Mail watched helplessly the Sealdah Express crashing into the derailed bogies, causing the disaster.

According to Mr R.S. Grover, the Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, who is supervising rescue and relief operations at the accident site, there is no way of recalling or warning a train at such a short notice once it has steamed off the railway station. "We do not have wireless sets in railway engines. Thereafter we are now thinking of providing walkie-talkie sets to the guard and the engine driver," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr B.S. Datta, Commissioner of Railway Safety, North Circle, New Delhi, began a formal inquiry into the causes of the accident.

Rail track opened to traffic

KHANNA, Nov 27 (PTI) — The "Up’’ track, which was damaged in the train accident yesterday, was opened to traffic late this evening when the first goods train to Ludhiana from Ambala passed the affected portion at about 5.30 p m.

Ambala Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) R.S. Grover said here that another goods train passed the site at about 6.15 pm. He said the Down track for traffic from Ludhiana to Delhi would be thrown up two hours later.

He said the trains were running at a speed restriction of 10 km per hour.

Patiala gears up to receive bodies
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, Nov 27 — Unidentified bodies of the Khanna rail tragedy victims started arriving at Government Medical College here tonight, even as the district administration and social organisations made arrangements to render assistance to relatives of the victims who are expected to arrive tonight.

The Patiala Divisional Commissioner, Mr RPS Pawar, told TNS that a convoy of trucks would carry a total of 81 unidentified bodies to the hospital here. About 10 to 12 bodies will be transported in each truck with the entire exercise expected to be completed till midnight.

Meanwhile, the district administration has established a round-the-clock control room to get information of the train mishap victims. The telephone numbers of the control rooms are 0175-302400 and 301100 and of Government Medical College are 0175-212018 and 304634.

The Government Rajindra Hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr SS Sidhu, said each body would be numbered serially on arrival and placed in the anatomy department hall. He said a video tape of the bodies would be prepared which would be screened to help the relatives of the victims identify them.

Mr Sidhu said the personal belongings of the victims would be placed along side them to help identification. He said the bodies of men, women and children would be segregated.

The Medical Superintendent said medicos and residents had been put on round-the-clock duty to attend to kin of the victims. He said a separate team would also conduct post-mortems, where needed.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Viswajit Khanna, said a compensation of Rs 25,000 would be paid on the spot to the next of kin of the victims. He said arrangements had been made to transfer the coffins, specially prepared by the administration, to the nearest railway station. He said railway passes would be made available to the relatives for travelling to any part of the country with the coffins.

Meanwhile, a number of social and welfare organisations are actively helping the district administration to render assistance in the lodging of relatives of the victims who are expected to arrive here. The Senior Akali Dal Jatha leader of Patiala, Mr Manmohan Singh Bajaj, said the jatha had made arrangements for the stay of the relatives in a school building and would also provide beddings and other necessities.

In Rajindra Hospital the condition of the four seriously injured is improving and all were responding to the treatment.