Kaduri Lokeshwar, who was injured in a train accident in Odisha, talking to his relative at Seven Hills Hospital in Visakhapatnam on Monday. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Thank God, our children are safe. We narrowly escaped being injured. I cannot imagine what would have happened to our children if something had happened to us,” said Kaduri Lokeshwar (47), a daily-wage worker, recalling the horrors of the horrific train accident in Odisha.
Mr Lokeshwar and his wife Minnie (36) were treated at Seven Hills Hospital in Visakhapatnam and were discharged on June 5 (Monday).
Mr Lokeshwar had cuts and bruises on his legs, arms and waist, while his wife had sustained injuries on her head and back. They were returning to Visakhapatnam on the ill-fated Coromandel Express after attending a village deity’s festival at Konnagar in Hooghly.
“I boarded the B5 coach of the Coromandel Express along with my wife, mother and son, who is studying in third standard, and daughter who is not yet enrolled in school. My wife and I were on the top berth, while my mother was on the bottom berth. My son was sleeping beside me while my daughter was with my mother.’
“After the train crossed Balasore, we heard a deafening sound around 7 pm, we found ourselves on the floor of the coach and so did other passengers. Though it was a reserved compartment, it was full of waiting list (WL) passengers. It was a summer rush. We were inside the fallen coach for about half an hour, not knowing what to do.
“Some local villagers broke a glass pane and pulled me out. The rescue teams pulled out my wife, children, mother and other passengers from the compartment. We managed to reach Bhubaneswar in private vehicles and from there we came to Visakhapatnam by a special train arranged by the Railways.
Sri Lokeswara, a resident of Marikavalasa on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, is a painter. His father, who worked in a jute mill in Kolkata, had settled there. Sri Lokeshwar moved to Marikavalasa after his marriage about 13 years ago. His brothers still live in Kolkata.
“We went to my elder brother’s house for the festival. Thankfully our coach had electricity but there was no short-circuit. If there was a short circuit, we would all have died.
Ms. Minnie, who still seemed to be in shock, was transferred to her room in a wheel-chair. He was later discharged from the hospital.