Kolkata, June 3: A special train carrying 200 people from the accident site of three trains, including the Coromandel Express, near Balasore in Odisha, reached Howrah station on Saturday afternoon. This train reached here around 12:00 noon, after which all the passengers on board were safely deboarded. Food and water have been provided to them by the railroads. Panic can still be seen clearly on the faces of most of these passengers.
The passengers of this train told me how hundreds of people have lost their lives due to the accident. People also narrated how the people trapped under the bogies of the accident train were rescued and how NDRF personnel, along with the local administration, rescued them from the train.
Special arrangements have been made by the railways for these passengers at Howrah station. In a statement issued by Eastern Railway, it has been told that medical booths, ambulances, and first aid services have been made available on platform number eight. Doctors are also present here. Medical arrangements have been made available here by coordinating with the doctors of the state’s medical hospitals.
Arrangements for food and water have been made here for the passengers coming from the accident site. RPF personnel are continuously making announcements in local and Hindi about where and what facilities are available. Wheelchairs and stretchers have been made available on platform number eight only. Help booths have also been set up. Free entry for taxis has been allowed in the station corridor. An additional number of local trains have also been arranged to take the passengers arriving by different means to the main and chord lines.
