New Delhi:
On Wednesday a son took a photograph of his mother at the train station in Lucknow, where he was seeing her off on the daily superfast Pushpak Express to Mumbai, little knowing it would be the last time he would see her alive.
Hours later the mother, Kamala Bhandari, 43, a resident of Mumbai’s Colaba neighbourhood, was one of 13 people, including a 11-year-old boy, who died as the train crossed Maharashtra’s Jalgaon.
The son, Tapendra Bhandari, was left to face the shock and trauma.
Authorities believe some passengers, alarmed by what they thought were sparks – due to ‘brake-binding’- in the coach, jumped off the train and were run over by another – the Karnataka Express – from the opposite direction. The Railway Ministry later confirmed there were no sparks in the coach.
READ | 13 Dead After Jumping Off Train Over Fire Rumour, Getting Hit By Another
The incident happened around 5 pm, and harrowing images from the scene showed bodies lying on tracks as injured passengers wandered around with blood all over them.
Not all 13 people who died have been identified so far; as of Thursday morning only eight had.
But, of those eight, four are from Nepal, including Ms Bhandari and a man called Lachchiram Pasi, whose family not only had to come to terms with his death but also identify his mutilated body. “Some portions of his hands and legs (were) missing,” his nephew, Ramrang Pasi, told news agency PTI.
Mr Pasi was in his 50s, his nephew said, and hailed from Nepal’s Narainpur Banke district. He was travelling from Nepal to Thane, via Lucknow, with five day wagers who managed to survive.
READ | “Everyone Jumped On Tracks”: Passenger On Jalgaon Train Horror
Like Mr Pasi, Ms Bhandari’s son had to identify his mother’s body.
Heart-breaking visuals showed the young man being escorted down the section of tracks where his mother’s body was found. He had scraps of clothing, presumably what was left of his mother’s clothes, clutched to his chest, and seemed, understandably, to still be in shock.
Kamala Bhandari at the railway station in Lucknow
One video showed him kneeling in front of a few blood-stained pebbles. He picked up a few, washed them with some water from a bottle, and clutched them to his chest too.
And, on the question of repatriating Ms Bhandari’s body to her home country, Mr Bhandari, sought aid from the authorities to carry it either by road or air.
According to PTI, the two others from Nepal were Javakala Bhate, 60, who lived in Bhiwandi in Thane, and 11-year-old Imtiyaz Ali.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in Davos for the World Economic Forum, both expressed sorrow, and announced Rs 5 lakh to each of the 13 families. The state, Mr Fadnavis also said, would bear medical costs for the injured.
The Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police have begun a joint inquiry into the incident, in which 15 people were also injured.
With input from agencies
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