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Distraught relatives of people on board the ill-fated Indore-Patna Express who have still not been united with their family, searched frantically for their loved ones on Monday, a day after the worst rail accident in recent years jolted them unaware.
While some managed to know the fate of their kin, whether they survived or were killed in the derailment of the train 19321 in the wee hours in Kanpur-Rural, for many others it has been a painstaking effort filled with apprehension.
"Whoever I have found is dead... my brother, my older sister-in-law, daughter... I haven't found my mother yet. I fear I will find her in same condition," said Nirmal Verma, who had earlier planned to travel with his family for a wedding, but did not get leave from work and was supposed to join them later.
"I am looking for my brother. Who knows? He may have changed his seat... we have searched everywhere..." said Ramanand Tiwari.
One of the survivors said, "Don't have any news about my brother. We have searched all the hospitals. I fear that he is trapped."
Rescue workers wrapped up the efforts to pull out the trapped passengers from the mangled bogies after an overnight operation under the floodlights including using cold cutters to open up the compartments.
Bodies from among the 143 dead have been sent to Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh while the over 200 injured have been admitted to various hospitals in Kanpur-Rural. Some of them are yet to unite with their family members.
A man, whose two sisters were on the train, left from his hometown on Sunday soon after the news of the tragedy to reach the accident site, only to find one of them dead and the other missing.
"No one has any information about her (the second sister)," he said, after having spent the night frantically looking for his sister in the hospitals and asking officials around.
Survivors had horrid tales to share.
While one recounted how the derailment "sounded like beating of drums", another just recalled a "loud bang" just after 0300 hours when most of the passengers were jolted out of their sleep.
"We saw that bogies were on top of one another," said a man, who sustained minor injuries.
Another said, "We somehow survived as the bogie ahead of us reduced the damage. Two bogies had turned turtle... we cannot say how that happened."
For yet another survivor, the ordeal was more of a "nightmare" as he waited for hours among dead bodies in his mangled coach to be pulled out by the rescue workers who cut open the bogie.
"I could not believe it was really happening. I was the only one alive in the coach," he said, fighting back tears.
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Mother's walking stick saves family of seven
An elderly woman's walking stick proved to be the saviour for a family of seven from Muzaffarpur in the tragic accident.
The family of businessman Manoj Chaurasia of Muzaffarpur in Bihar, had boarded the ill-fated train at Indore and were going to their home in Patna.
Chaurasia said his mother's walking stick saved the lives of his family. He said that all the seven members of his family were trapped in bogey B1 after the accident.
"Trapped inside the damaged bogey, I broke the window pane with the help of my mother's stick and came out after nearly an hour of the mishap," he said and thanked the Almighty for the providential escape.
"Maa ki charri ne pure parivar ki jaan bacha li (My mother's stick saved life of the entire family)," he said.
Walking with the help of the 'life-saving lucky' stick, the elderly mother was in shock and could not speak anything.
Chaurasia's wife Nandini said while the attendant of the coach and a few other passengers in the bogey lost their lives, for them, "Maut choo kar nikal gayi (death passed off touching us)."
The family left for their home after the special train arrived at Patna junction from the accident site at Pukhrayan in rural Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh around 04:05 am on Monday.
Meanwhile, Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal is camping at Patna junction to supervise the relief provided to victims and their kins.
The team of doctors present at the station attended to the injured and a few of them were immediately rushed to hospitals in an ambulance parked at the station, the DM told PTI.
The district administration also facilitated those arriving by the special train to go to their homes in Madhubani, Chapra, Muzaffarpur and other places from Patna junction.
IMAGE: Rescuers work in progress at the site of the accident. Photograph: PTI Photo