Odisha train tragedy: Bahanaga residents, administrators share harrowing experiences

Life is gradually limping back to normalcy and trains have returned to the track as eight days have passed since the horrific triple train accident at Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district. However, residents of Bahanaga, who were the first respondents to carry out the rescue operation, are yet to get over their nightmarish experiences on that ill-fated day of June 2. Whenever they are hearing the sound of a train, the harrowing memories are coming back to haunt them.

Some of the local residents and district administration officials have shared their heart-wrenching experiences about the horrific accident.

Soubhyagya Ranhan Sarangi, who is a medicine shop owner near Bahanaga station was at a loss for words while narrating his experience about the black Friday.

“I can’t tell my experience in words. There was horror and horror all around. Limbless bodies were piled all around the railway track. Hands, limbs, heads and other parts of bodies were strewn on the track. Several injured passengers were crying for help. The rescue operation by local people and NDRF and ODRAF teams continued throughout the night,” said Sarangi.

“I provided primary treatment to the injured passengers before they were shifted to the nearby hospitals,” he added.

Bhagabata, an elderly local couldn’t control his tears while narrating his experience.

“Local people rushed to the spot after hearing the deafening sound. There were limbless bodies piled all around the track. Injured passengers drenched in blood were stuck in the mangled coaches of Coromandel Express. They were desperately crying for help. Though several of them were rescued by local people and the rescue team, we were helpless to watch many of them passing away before us,” said Bhagabata.

Kamala, another local resident residing near the Bahanaga level crossing, provided yeoman service to the accident victims by supplying them with water throughout the ill-fated night.

“I was going to cook dinner when I heard the ear-splitting sound. I immediately rushed to the spot and found hundreds of bodies strewn all around. Several injured passengers were crying for water. I didn’t waste a minute and continued to supply water from my home throughout the night,” said Kamala.

Not only the local residents, but the horrifying accident is also still resurfacing in the memories of district administration officials.

Sharing her experience about that ill-fated night, Balasore SP Sagarika Nath said “A mother was stuck in one of the mangled coaches. Not caring about her life, she was crying to rescue her two-year-old child through the window. I just can’t forget the incident throughout my life,” said Nath.

Balasore Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde said that the accident was a major tragedy and a horrible experience.

“The incident has given confidence to the whole administration to manage any kind of huge disaster. We had never managed disaster on such a large scale,” said Shinde.