'I Physically Survived Odisha Train Accident, But Need Time to Recover Mentally'

I was travelling from Kolkata to Cuttack on Coromandel Express which met with the accident in Odisha on 2 June.

Anubhav Das is a survivor of the Odisha train accident.

(Image altered by The Quint/Namita Chauhan)

On 2 June 2023, I boarded Coromandel Express from Shalimar station, which left at around 3:20 pm. My train's coach, H1, was the second last coach of the train. That’s how I survived the most dangerous train derailment in recent times. But the visuals keep reappearing in my mind. I have reached out for help and hope things will get better soon.

2 June 2023 is the scariest day of my life. A day that I will never be able to forget in my lifetime. By God's grace, I survived the Odisha train accident that took the lives of at least 275 people, leaving over 1,100 people injured. 

My name is Anubhav Das, and I am a PhD scholar at National Rice Research Institute in Cuttack, Odisha. I had gone to Sundarbans for my research work and was returning via Kolkata. 

Till 6:20 pm everything was fine as the train was moving smoothly, and it had crossed Balasore station around 20 minutes ago. At around 6:30 pm, a loud bang sound was heard, and the train started to shake, and I felt as if my coach would topple. In a minute or so, the train abruptly stopped after drastic trembling movements. 

Anubhav's ticket of the journey from Shalimar to Cuttack.

(Credit: Anubhav Das)

I couldn't understand what had happened. So, I came out to enquire about it. What I saw was something that petrified me to the core. Two-three coaches of another train had toppled just beside our coach on the adjacent track, and people were screaming, crying and shouting for help. 

At first, I thought the coaches of our train had derailed, but soon I realised the coaches of Yesvantpur Howrah Express had also toppled after the two trains collided. Then I saw the engine of our train was on top of another goods train, and that’s when I realised there were three trains involved.

People who survived or were injured came towards me and some other passengers for help. We immediately ran inside our train compartments to bring bedsheets for the injured passengers. There was not enough water to give to the injured passengers, so we entered the compartment, which seemed intact, and refilled the bottles from the taps.

Meanwhile, I also called the railway emergency helpline number, and in 20 minutes, I saw the first ambulance coming, and several other ambulances followed. In the meantime, the locals had come in good numbers. Some 200-300 locals had come from the nearby village. They started picking up injured passengers and loading them into the ambulances. 

Those local people did a commendable job in helping the accident victims. At that time, I only saw a pool of blood and bodies lying everywhere.  

I had informed my dad regarding the accident, so he booked a cab from Cuttack, and it took around three hours for him to reach the accident spot. At about 10 pm, I left the accident site. I wish no one gets to see or witness such an accident ever. 

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