Train mishap toll 210, rescue operations end
Tribune News Service

KHANNA, Nov 28 — With the recovery of a few more bodies from damaged coaches today death toll of Thursday's train accident near here has risen to 210. The last body to be retrieved from a crumpled coach was that of a baby. Also recovered alongwith it were parts of another human body. Mr K. Siva Prasad, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana and Mr A. Venu Prasad, another officer, who have been supervising relief and rescue operations for the past three days, told The Tribune at the site of accident that more bodies were not expected to be found. Therefore, the operations were being wound up.

Also freed from under the engine was the body of assistant driver, Sushant Ram Murti. "Ironically he was among the first to board the ill-fated train and among the last to leave it," remarked Mr Venuprasad. The 110-tonne engine was lifted with great difficulty by heavy duty cranes. The body of driver, Subhash Kumar was recovered on Thursday.

All bodies recovered from the accident site have either been claimed by the kith and kin of the victims or sent to Medical College, Patiala. More than Rs 6.50 lakh in cash was recovered from the coaches and in the form of jewellery from the coaches besides hundreds of pieces of baggage. Most of it had been handed over to the relatives of the victims after proper identification. The rest of it would be deposited in the government Treasury, according to Mr Arun Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana.

Mr Goel said he had formed two committees to handle valuables and baggage of the accident victims soon after the commencement of rescue and relief operations at the site of the train disaster.

"It was on Thursday morning that two citizens of Khanna, Dr Ashwani Kumar and Mr Dev Krishan, contacted me with a large amount of cash and jewellery they had recovered from a coach and wanted to know where to keep it..."

In order to ensure smooth operations, Mr Goel said, he formed two committees — one to handle baggage and the other to deal with cash and jewellery. Both Dr Kumar and Mr Dev Krishan were included in the committee for handling cash and jewellery along with SDM, Khanna, Mr S.S. Gill, DSP, GRP, Mr D.S. Bajwa, SDM Jagraon, DETO, Khanna, DSP, Payal and Principal, A.S. College, Khanna, which served as the base camp. After their retrieval from the smashed coaches, the bodies were taken to sports grounds of the college where they were preserved on ice.

An accident information centre was set up. A telephone was installed where relatives of the victims were allowed to make free STD calls. A round-the-clock langar was organised by the residents of Kalal Majra village who supplied food, refreshments, tea and milk to the victims’ families as well as the voluntary force. A large number of unclaimed pieces of baggage are still stored in a room in the college compound.

The operations went off smoothly. A complaint was, however, made by a few volunteers at the accidents site to the Deputy Commissioner yesterday about a woman’s purse containing Rs 30,000. The purse was retrieved by a RSS worker and handed over to a police official who, in stead of depositing it with the committee, placed it in his official Gypsy.

In full view of the public and within their hearing, the DC used his mobile cellphone to ring up the SSP, Khanna and later the DGP to complain about the police official. An inquiry was conducted by the SSP, Khanna, who later claimed that the purse containing the money had passed through several hands before it was deposited with the committee. There was no question of any attempt by any policeman to misappropriate the money.

Vain search to identify bodies
From Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, Nov 28 — "I have looked everywhere. I along with my relatives reached the train accident site within three hours. It has been two days. However, all I have of my father is his turban, a sweater and a shawl."

This is the plight of Harpreet Singh who reached here this morning to search for the body of his father among the 79 unidentified bodies of the Khanna train tragedy which were brought to the Government Medical College last night.

Harpreet told The Tribune "I and my other relatives, including my maternal uncle, are filled with despair. Where could the body have gone. We saw each and every body at Khanna. We came here only after all the bodies had been taken out of the ill-fated bogies and even the over- turned engine to see if there were any bodies beneath it".

Harpreet and his relatives saw the video film specially made of the victims along with their personal belongings and even went inside the stench-emitting Anatomy Department hall where the bodies have been laid down to check each and every body but to no effect.

Harpreet is not the only one to suffer this predicament. Mr N.K. Aggarwal is still searching for the body of his daughter's mother-in-law. The bodies of Mr Aggarwal's daughter Archana, son-in-law Yogesh, who were both doctors, and Archana's father-in-law have been recovered but the body of her mother-in-law, Shamo Devi is still missing. Archana's one and a half year old son is the lone survivor and is presently admitted in the Dayanand Medical Hospital at Ludhiana. Mr Aggarwal said it was because of this and the highly decomposed nature of the bodies that they had decided to hold cremation of the three bodies at Patiala itself today rather than taking them to Muzzafarnagar.

Status of inquiry upgraded
Inquiry report in 2 months

NEW DELHI, Nov 28 (PTI) — The inquiry into Thursday’s rail disaster near Khanna in Punjab will be conducted by the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety, the highest authority in the matter of safety in India, it was officially stated today.

A decision to this effect has been taken by Railway Minister Nitish Kumar in view of the seriousness of the accident in which the death toll has mounted to 201.

Under the administrative control of the Civil Aviation Ministry, Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety M. Mani reached the accident site this morning and began the inquiry in continuation of the probe already in progress by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northern Circle, a Northern Railway press note said.

It said of the dead, 129 bodies had been identified and 106 claimed by the next of the kin. An ex gratia payment of Rs 25,000 has been made to the next of kin of 102 killed in the tragedy. Ex gratia payment to all injured who are in a position to receive the money has also been made.

Mr Mani told mediapersons in Ludhiana that he had made a detailed survey of the accident site and would submit a preliminary report to the Railway Ministry within 15 days.

The final report would be submitted within two months.

Mr V.S. Dutta, Commissioner of Railway Safety, who had earlier been asked to conduct the inquiry, would now assist the Chief Commissioner.

Mr Mani said the status of the inquiry had been upgraded as Thursday’s accident was the fourth major one in Indian Railways in its 150-year-old history.

Bodies of victims not scavenged
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, Nov 28 — Money and valuables found on the person of the Khanna train tragedy victims at the Government Medical College here indicates they were saved from Vandalism which is a common phenomenon in case of train tragedies.

This is something which is peculiar to Punjab and shows the moral commitment of Punjab to help those in distress and not take advantage of them by scavenging their bodies, said a relative of one of the accident victims.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Capt R.S. Randhawa said money and valuables had been found on a number of bodies. He said in one case Rs 9,000 had been found and in another Rs 3,400. He said in case of women gold jewellery had been found on some bodies besides small sums on many men.

He said the administration was handing over the personal belongings and money found on the victims to their relatives.