Kanpur derailment: Relatives of departed a harried lot at Patna Jn.

November 20, 2016 09:33 am | Updated 09:53 am IST - Patna

A view of a derailed train in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in this still image taken from video November 20, 2016. ANI/via Reuters

A view of a derailed train in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in this still image taken from video November 20, 2016. ANI/via Reuters

Relatives of those who were killed in the Indore-Rajendra Nagar Express train derailment near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh are harried lot at Patna Junction. No official information or special arrangement has been made by the railways for them.

The latest information that has reached Patna Junction is that the death toll has gone up to 63 with over 150 injured.

From pillar to post

Radhakant Tiwari of Nalanda district was running from one corner of the platform to other seeking information about his brother Ramakant Tiwari who was traveling in the train. “Nobody is here to provide any information...they GRP (Government Railway Police) officials have just given us the helpline number to seek more information”, Radhakant Tiwari told The Hindu .

“There is no arrangement for people like us to take us to the accident site…I’m waiting for a train to reach Mugalsarai first and from there I’ll go to the accident site”, he said.

However, when he rang up at his brother’s mobile number, someone else picked up the phone and told him that the person having the phone has been killed in the accident.

“Except this I’ve no further information…what I should do I don’t know”, he said.

“Only helpline available”

The other relatives who turned up at the Patna railway platform to seek information about those who were travelling in the train too seemed clueless.

“No Railway official is here to support us with any further information…they’re just giving (us) the helpline number to call,” said an anxious middle-aged relative, Ramesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav have condoled death of those killed in the accident.

Fourteen coaches of the Patna-bound Indore-Rajendra Nagar express train had derailed near Pukhrayan in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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