Passengers recount moments after AP train derailment, thank God for being alive

Bhubaneswar: As the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger Special train jumped the track on Sunday evening in Andhra Pradesh, the six-year-old daughter of Dilip Kumar Patro fell from the upper berth but fortunately did not suffer any major injury.

While recounting the horror of the train’s collision with Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger that left 14 people dead and 50 others injured, the child’s mother thanked the Almighty for saving them.

Patro, a resident of Odisha’s Rayagada district, was returning home with his wife, daughter and three others when the accident took place between Alamanda and Kantakapalle in the Vizianagaram-Kottavalasa Railway Section of Waltair Division of the East Coast Railway Zone.

“At around 7:10 pm, we felt a major jolt. Everything happened in seconds. My daughter who was sitting on a top berth fell down. There were screams for help and cries all around the coaches. Initially, I did not understand what had happened but later realized it was an accident,” said Patro after reaching Raygada station on Monday.

The 35-year-old man said he took his daughter and belongings and asked his wife and other family members to get down from the tilted coach.