Kozhikode
The 120-odd survivors of the mishap involving the Mangalore-Chennai mail in Kerala todayare in a state of shock and many could not even recall the coaches in which they weretravelling.
"The train jerked just before it entered the Kadalundi bridge. There was a big noise. Everyone was thrown outof the seats and the next minute, before I could understand anything, I was neckdeep in the mud. Somebody pulled me out breakingopen the window after half an hour,' Gopinathan from Vatakara told PTI at the medical college hospital here.
Gopinathan, who was in the s6 compartment, was talking with the ticket examiner to get his berth confirmedwhen the mishap occurred. He was going to Chennai to attend the funeral of a relative. He has injuries in hishead and right leg.
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K Murali, an employee with the construction wing of the railways here, was going home toPothanur when the accident took place. But he miraculously escaped with minor injurieswhen when local people saved him by breaking open the compartment, 45 minutes after the accident.
Murali said his compartment was partially submerged in water. He does not recollect what happened to hisfellow travellers.
Ramani, who was travelling to Chennai to join her husband, escaped without any injuries as the s-7 coachwhich derailed did not fall into the river. Her son, who suffered head injuries, is being treated at the hospital.
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Pathumma, 55, a cancer patient who was returning home to Palakkad after treatment at the medical collegehospital here, said she heard a big sound after which she could not remember anything. The doctor attending onher said she had been discharged from the cancer ward only yesterday. Her injury wasnot serious, he said.
The condition of most of the 123 injured who had been admitted here was not serious, hospital sources said.At least ten persons suffered head injuries and were in a critical condition.
A large crowd of anxious relatives and local people were seen at the hospital premises
