25 years on, Kadalundi recounts memories of rail tragedy

A quarter century after one of Kerala’s worst railway disasters, people of Kadalundi gathered on Monday (June 22) not merely to remember the dead, but to revisit a tragedy that continues to define the village.

In the small coastal village on the Kozhikode-Malappuram border, where the Kadalundipuzha empties into the Arabian Sea, survivors, bereaved families, rescuers and residents came together to mark the 25th anniversary of the Kadalundi train disaster. For many, it was less a commemorative meeting than a reunion of memory.

Those who lost loved ones sat alongside those who escaped death. Fishermen who pulled passengers from the river recalled the frantic hours after the accident. Survivors retraced moments they have carried for 25 years.

Kadalundi panchayat president O. Bhakthavalsalan inaugurated the remembrance programme. Veteran journalist A. Sajeevan delivered the memorial address. On June 22, 2001, a monsoon Friday evening, the Mangaluru-Chennai Mail crossed Kadalundi station and rolled onto the railway bridge spanning the river. Seconds later, disaster struck.

As the train moved across the bridge at around 50 kmph, girders at its southern end gave way. Six coaches plunged into the river below, turning an ordinary journey into one of the country’s most devastating rail accidents. Fifty-two people were killed, and nearly 300 were injured.

The screams of passengers echoed across the river as residents rushed towards the bridge. Sand miners working nearby and fishermen from Chaliyam launched their boats into the water within minutes, becoming the first responders long before organised rescue teams arrived. They were later joined by khalasis from Beypore, firefighters and police personnel.

Rescue operations continued through the night. Trapped passengers were pulled from twisted coaches after rescuers smashed window bars with crowbars and cut through metal using gas cutters.

The images that followed became part of Kerala’s collective memory. Hospitals in Kozhikode and Malappuram overflowed with anxious relatives searching for family members. Many victims were difficult to identify.

Among the haunting memories of the disaster is that of an unidentified hand protruding through the window of a partially submerged coach. Visible above the water through changing tides until rescuers cut open the carriage the following day, the image remains etched in the minds of residents.

Twenty-five years later, the disaster still raises questions. Railway authorities have never conclusively established what caused the bridge to fail. Competing theories have surfaced over the years, but no explanation has fully resolved the mystery.

For Kadalundi, however, the disaster is more than an unresolved investigation. It is a shared memory that continues to bind the village together. On Monday, as survivors, rescuers and families of the victims gathered once again, the tragedy felt less like a chapter from history than a story still being lived.