Bhubaneswar (IANS) | Manickal Tiwari, one of the fortunate survivors of the horrific train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district, believes he has been reborn by the grace of God. Tiwari, a resident of Balasore town, sustained serious injuries on his hand and head. Recalling that horror, he said, I boarded the S1 coach of the Coromandel Express train at Balasore and traveled to Cuttack. I was recording video on my mobile at the window to show my family members about the speed of the train.
Suddenly their coach derailed between Khantapara and Bahnaga and overturned. The entire area was covered with dust, Tiwari said. He said, I was bleeding profusely from my head and had a serious injury on my hand.
Tiwari said, the whole accident happened in just five seconds. A young couple was sitting in front of me. The man died while his wife survived.
He told that he was traveling in a reserved compartment. The coach was completely packed with passengers, and many of them may not have had tickets. Tiwari said the train was running at a speed of over 100 kmph at the time of the incident.
When I managed to get out of the coach, I saw that my coach was completely shattered and hundreds of people were lying on the track without any movement, he said.
He said, by the grace of God I was saved. I don’t even want to remember Black Friday.
Significantly, more than 261 people had died and 900 people were injured in this accident. The injured passengers have been admitted to Gopalpur, Khantapara, Balasore, Bhadrak, Soro and Cuttack SCB hospitals.
–IANS
