In a touching story of determination, a father’s 230-kilometre journey to Balasore led him to reunite with his 24-year-old son who was presumed dead.
The triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore resulted in the loss of 275 lives and left over 1000 injured on June 2.
Helaram Mallik said his son, Biswajit, who boarded the Coromandel Express, was mistaken for dead and had a pile of bodies placed upon him. Determined to find his son, Helaram Mallik called his son, who told him he was in pain but alive. He then embarked on a 230-kilometre journey to Balasore.
His relentless efforts led him to locate his son alive in a makeshift morgue, where he had been mistakenly placed with the deceased victims of the triple train accident.
After that, Mr. Mallik pulled out his young son from the morgue at Bahanaga High School and rushed him to Balasore Hospital before bringing him to Kolkata's SSKM Hospital.
Biswajit suffered multiple bone injuries in his limbs and underwent two surgeries at the trauma care unit of SSKM Hospital here.
Speaking about the whole incident to ANI, Helaram said, “My son boarded the Coromandel Express and was travelling to Chennai from Santragachi for work. At around 7.30 a.m., he called and told me that the train had met with an accident. He lost his senses after he called me. He called from someone else phone and informed me that he is badly hurt and fell unconscious.”
“A pile of dead bodies was placed upon him thinking he was dead, when he regained consciousness, he waved his hand to indicate that he was alive. People realised he was alive and took him to the hospital. We went in search of my son as he called and informed us about the accident. Finally, I found him in Balasore Hospital,” Mr. Malik added.
Recalling the accident, he said that it was extremely painful for him as he was ‘about to’ lose his son forever.
“The incident was extremely painful for us as he had returned after 2 years, stayed for 15 days, and left again. Whether he will go again or not will be his choice, being a father I will only advise him not to go. We are very happy but are concerned about his legs and hands. Money doesn’t matter to me, what matters to me is my son. I have found my son and bringing him back to Kolkata is the most important. The compensation which will be provided by CM Mamata Banerjee would be very helpful for us and I am grateful to her,” he added.
The tragedy happened due to the derailment of two passenger trains and a good train that collided with each other near Bahanaga Railway Station in Balasore on June 2.
The Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express collided with a stationary freight train, causing several coaches to derail onto the adjacent track. Subsequently, the Howrah Express, travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah, collided with the affected carriages at high speed, resulting in further derailment.
Notably, the ill-fated Coromandel Express is all set to resume services from Wednesday, days after the dreadful accident.
