Nepali Boy Who Survived Odisha Train Tragedy Finally Reunited With His Parents

Ramanand Paswan was admitted to Cuttack's SCB hospital with injuries after the Odisha train accident.

Ramanand Paswan interacting with his parents in Cuttack's SCB medical college hospital.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint) 

While stories of horror and sorrow emanated from the Odisha train disaster on Friday, 2 June – which claimed the lives of at least 275 people – one of the few stories of hope came to the fore when a Nepali boy, who survived the tragedy, was reunited with his parents on Friday, 7 June.

Ramanand Paswan, a Nepal national, was admitted to SCB medical college hospital in Cuttack with injuries after the accident.

Paswan's age is disputed. While some sources say he is 15 years old, others say he is 21. He was travelling to Chennai in the Coromandel Express, according to local media.

At a time when people have been searching for their relatives and friends who were in the ill-fated trains that collided on 2 June, Paswan's parents were the lucky few who were able to find their son.

When they heard about the accident, they came all the way from Nepal to Odisha to locate him.

"I managed to reach Balasore with much difficulty. I searched the local medical college and hospital but could not find my son. People manning the help desk there are also unaware of his whereabouts," Meera Devi, Paswan's mother, had earlier told The New Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the bodies of dozens of people who were killed in the train disaster remain unidentified. Efforts are, however, ongoing to identify all the persons who died in the disaster, so that families can be informed at the earliest.

The investigation into the accident, being undertaken by the Central Bureau of Investigation, is also underway in full-swing.

(With inputs from The New Indian Express.)