Tragedy on tracks

A whatsApp photograph of a head flashed on Vijay Kumar’s phone screen at 3 am Saturday, confirming his worst fears — his 18-year-old son Manish, a student  of Class XII was one of the revellers mowed down by a train while they were watching Ravana’s effigy burn the evening before. 

His younger son, Ashish, had returned safely, but the frantic search for Manish ended with that ‘ping’ on his phone. After roaming from hospital to hospital, it was on Saturday evening that he could find the headless body of his son from mortuary at civil hospital. The family recognised him from the black T-shirt he was wearing.

 It was a night of unspeakable horrors, say those who lived to tell the tale.  As people mill around the compound of Guru Nanak Hospital, attached to the Government Medical College, where most of the injured on Friday evening are being treated, most are in a state of shock. Among them is Sapna, who was on a WhatsApp call with her husband, relaying the Ravana dahan live to him, when the accident took place. The 30-year-old, who suffered head injuries, says she saw many body parts scattered around the tracks and even a severed head. “When the effigy was set afire, people started moving away from the stage and towards the tracks,” she says, recalling the minutes before tragedy struck.

As a train approached, people tried to clear the tracks and moved towards a parallel railway line. It lead to a stampede-like situation. Just moments later, another train came from the opposite direction at a high speed and ran over the crowds. She says they could not hear the horn as it was lost in the din of bursting crackers. “The train driver should have noticed the crowd as there was light and people were holding their mobile phones up to record the event,” adds Sapna.

Sapna has lost her cousin and her one-year-old niece. They were not mowed down by the train but died in the stampede that ensued. The baby was flung on the stones and the mother was probably trampled to death by the crowds trying to flee.  

Seven-year-old Khushi, who accompanied her mother Paramjit Kaur for the festivities, lies wordless on her hospital bed. Khushi, who also fell close to the tracks, was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state.   

Recounting the minutes before the disaster, most of the injured say they did not hear the horn of the approaching train.  

Jitendra, a daily wager, says his wife, their two children and father-in-law had gone to watch Ravana dahan. “The train came at the speed of light and it led to a stampede-like situation as there was a large crowd present on the spot.” His six-year-old daughter, three-year-old son and father-in-law have died.

Dr Rakesh Sharma, professor in-charge, surgery unit, the Guru Nanak Hospital, says 20 persons were brought dead there. Another doctor, Dr Mayank says, “Most of the injured belong to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Eighty to ninety doctors have been put on emergency duty and are working round-the-clock. Some of the injured have been admitted to private hospitals or referred to the PGI, Chandigarh,” he adds. — PTI