Laddowal (Ludhiana), May 15
The Indian Army slogan “I am an army man” could not be proved more right than it did on Thursday when three Army personnel travelling aboard the Golden Temple Mail put their lives at stake to save over 200 passengers entrapped in the three ill-fated compartments of the train. The only regret these Army personnel have is that they could not save 38 passengers who were charred to death.

Having boarded the train at Ambala, about two hours before the fire broke out in the train, none of them could imagine that they would be delayed by hours for reaching their place of unit located in the Khem Karan sector on the Indo-Pak border. When an emergency arose, they got on top of the situation and virtually threw out passengers from the S4 compartment till it became impossible to get into the blazing compartment.

“We had boarded the S5 compartment at Ambala. The journey was normal till the train left the Ludhiana railway station around 3.40 am. But minutes later we heard screams of passengers, some of whom were shouting that the train was on fire. We pulled the chain bringing the train at a halt”, says Havaldar J.D. Singh. The first thing this group of soldiers did was to break the interconnection between coaches S5 and S6, thereby preventing the fire from spreading to coach S6. “With the help of passengers, we physically pushed S6 away from the burning coach”, he said. Mr Narsingh, Divisional Manager Railways, Ferozepore, who was also on board, assisted them.

Havaldar Bhagwan Singh, who formed an instant team with the others moved to the adjoining coach S4 and helped evacuate women and children. “People were trying to gather their belongings, but we forced them to leave telling them to save their lives rather than the belongings”. While he and his colleagues pushed passengers out of the burning compartment, some passengers from S6 too joined in to help.

“I made about 10-12 trips in and out of the compartment, pulling a person along each time. But within minutes the fire became so intense that I could not withhold my breath and so had to abandon the rescue operation. Several people fell down after becoming unconscious with the smoke and later got charred”, Havaldar Bhagwan Singh said.

Similarly, shuddering to recall the nightmarish experience, JD Singh said. “A family tried to leave the compartment, but fell unconscious. There was no time to help them and they were burnt before my eyes. It was at this stage that we started throwing sand at the fire in an attempt to stop it from spreading”. He said that most of the casualties were from among the people who were sleeping on the top berth. Luggage in the doorways prevented the exit, entrapping many according to him.

While Hav J.D. Singh, Hav Bhagwan Singh and Spr Sukhchain Singh of 119 Assault Engineer Regiment helped many civilians, they could do precious little for Lance Daffadar Saji, a soldier who lost his wife and two children in the fire. “It looks like a nightmare and I still do not believe it’s true”, said an inconsolable Saji, who tried to seek recourse in the Bible that he was carrying with him. “I am finished, there is nothing left for me to look forward to in life”, he told Brig. Sunil Dhawan, Commander 715 (1) AD Brigade, who personally supervised rescue operations along with other officers of the district administration.

Lance Daffadar Saji had boarded the train at Delhi and was bound for Amritsar, where he is posted with an Infantry Brigade. Saji who hails from Kerela has lost his wife and two children aged 11 and 6.

Equally tragic is the case of Anjli Vinayak, who boarded the train at Sholapur in Maharashtra with her soldier husband L/NK Ganpat Vinayak and accompanied by her husband’s mother, brother and sister-in-law. Her entire family, except her infant child died in the fire. All she hoped for now was blessings and strength to overcome the tragedy.

The Army communiqué has confirmed that the killed included all three family members of Lance Daffadar Saji and L/Nk Gautam Vinayak, who himself died along with his mother and other relatives. But his wife and child have survived.

“As soon as the passengers pulled the chain and the train stopped, I along with my guard jumped outside to see what had gone wrong. Soon we found flames leaping out from coaches S-3, S-4 and S-5 and the first thing we did was to detach them from other coaches as most of the passengers were fast asleep,” driver Tirath Ram told reporters on reaching here.

He said hundreds of people from the surrounding villages reached the spot within minutes and started rescue operations.