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Assam train mishap: 22-year-old tries to forget horror

July 11, 2011 12:22 IST

When she left home for her maiden visit to Jagannath temple in Puri city with her parents, Purnima Gogoi never thought the memories of the journey would beset her mind terribly and she would want to forget about it for the rest of her life.

Twenty-two-year-old Gogoi was one among the 100 injured in the derailment of the Guwahati-Puri Express in Assam's Kamrup (rural) district on Sunday evening.

"Please don't ask me. I want to forget. I pray to God and thank him that we are alive," Gogoi, a student of Handique Girls College, told reporters while she lay on her bed at Gauhati Medical College Hospital.

"At around 8:15 pm, there was a terrible sound and our compartment was derailed. Passengers shouted in panic, but there was none to help," Gogoi said.

While she and her parents, along with four others were admitted to the GMCH, two seriously injured passengers were being treated in the Maligaon Railway Hospital.

An improvised explosive device was used to trigger a blast that led to the derailment of the train at Dhatkuchi between Rangia and Ghagrapar at 8:30 pm on Sunday evening.

The explosion led to the engine and eight coaches jumping the rails. Four of the coaches toppled over and fell into a three feet water-filled ditch.