Dance of death: A bang and all went blank

Casualties kept increasing by the hour as rescue personnel tried to cut through derailed coaches of the Indore-Patna Express.

Even as the local people rushed to the scene, a big rescue operation was launched by the State police, a National Disaster Response Force team and Army personnel, who deployed armoured recovery vehicles to clear the wreckage.

Small cranes and canine squads were used to locate survivors. The NDRF had rescued 55 people and extricated 61 bodies till 8.30 p.m. Survivors were rushed to nearby hospitals.

Survivors recalled the accident with horror. Most passengers were asleep at the time of the accident and were woken up by a deafening thud.

Ram Pravesh Singh, who works in a liquor store in Indore, was travelling to his native Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, when a “loud ‘khat khat’ sound” woke him up. “Within seconds, and before we could figure out what was happening, we were crushed under the train,” said Mr. Singh, who fractured his left arm. He remained trapped for more than two hours before being rescued by the local people, who also supplied water and food to the survivors.

Describing the scene while he was being rescued, Mr. Singh said: “People were shouting for help. There were wails everywhere. More noises came from inside the coaches. It was a horrifying sight.”

Ram Dayal Raman, tehsildar of Rasulabad, said officials had collected around 250 bags and Rs. 2.5 lakh in cash from the site, as survivors found it difficult to locate their relatives.

Ram Kumar Singh, who works in a textile mill in Dewas in M.P. but was travelling home to Ballia in U.P. for holidays, also suffered an injury on his head. “The train stopped for a few seconds and the next moment it all shook like an earthquake.”

The local people, pulled out passengers from under the wreckage, even as volunteers of the Sikh group Khalsa Dal chipped in with supplies of snacks and water for the affected. Mohammed Irfan, a local who helped in relief work, described it as a “horrifying scene”. There were wails coming from everywhere and blood was spattered all over... every berth you opened a body would pop out,” said Mr. Irfan.

Leaders mourn deaths

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other leaders condoled the deaths.