The derailment of the Coromandel Express and the tragic deaths that followed has left a wave of gloom and sorrow across the country. There were some who somehow survived. Tanaya Nag Pal from West Bengal’s Habra and her family were among those who got a second chance in life. Recalling the nightmare, Tanaya, who is an architect by profession, told News18 that she was travelling with her two children and mother-in-law from Kharagpur in West Bengal to Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.
Her one-year-old daughter Rushika was on her lap while her 7-year-old son Rishan was sitting on the upper berth. According to Tanaya, she heard a deafening sound all of a sudden and the compartment started shaking violently. She watched helplessly as she saw her son fall from the upper berth. Her mother-in-law also fell down. Before she could react or get to either of them, the lights went out and it went pitch dark inside the compartment.
Tanaya recalled that all she could hear were screams from all around. She had somehow managed to not get flung off her seat and clutched her daughter close to herself. She managed to make a call home and inform them that their train had met with an accident. However, she soon lost her network and could not make contact with her family again.
Her family went into panic for hours till they were able to finally get Tanaya on the phone again. She assured them that they were safe as they were in a coach towards the end of the train but were trapped in the darkness.
Tanaya’s brother then contacted his friends who lived in Odisha. The friends drove to the site of the accident and rescued Tanaya, her children and her mother-in-law. Tanaya’s mother spoke to her daughter on video call after the rescue. It has been reported that Tanaya, along with four other people, has left for Vijayawada by car.
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