Special train affected by Bagmati Express collision arrives in Darbhanga

A special train carrying passengers affected in the October 11 incident involving the Bagmati Superfast Express arrived safely in Darbhanga on early Monday morning.

The Bagmati Express, travelling from Mysore to Darbhanga, was involved in an accident when it collided with a freight train near the Kavaraipettai railway station in Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu on Friday.

Several passengers were injured, but fortunately, there were no fatalities. After the incident, a special train was brought in to carry the stranded passengers. This special train departed from Chennai Central railway station early Saturday morning and has now reached Darbhanga with the passengers.

At Darbhanga station, passengers recounted their terrifying experiences and expressed gratitude to God for their survival. Many praised the support they received from the railway, local administration, and community members in the aftermath of the accident.

Injured passenger Sunil Kumar said, "At the time of the accident, I was eating and resting. Suddenly, I felt a strong jolt and fell from my seat, losing consciousness. With the help of others, I managed to get outside. When I regained consciousness, blood was oozing from my head and feet. The medical team later attended to us." Sunil described the scene as frightening, with one coach stacked on top of another. He also reported losing all his belongings, including money and tickets, in the accident.

Soni Devi, who was returning after receiving medical treatment, recalled, "We had ordered food and were waiting for it when the accident occurred. People in our coach were either waiting for their meals or chatting when a loud noise erupted, causing chaos inside. People started shouting that the train had overturned. Our coach derailed, but fortunately, we were unharmed. By God's grace, no one in our coach was injured, though other coaches had passengers with injuries."

Passenger Sitaraman Jha also commented on the accident, saying, "We survived by God's grace. When we exited the coach, we saw no significant loss of life or property. The railway suffered damage, and passengers were injured. Inside the coach, there was panic as people couldn't understand what had happened. Injured passengers were admitted to a hospital in Chennai, while those who were safe were sent to Darbhanga by a special Bagmati train."

After the incident, chaos erupted among passengers. Senior officials from the railway, police, and fire departments arrived at the scene to conduct rescue and relief operations. Due to the seriousness of the situation, railway authorities have begun an investigation. No passengers were reported dead in the accident, but a visible sense of fear lingered among travellers at Darbhanga station. By the time of writing, 16 passengers had filed complaints about their lost belongings.

The incident, which occurred around 8:30 pm on the Chennai-Gudur section between Ponneri and Kavaraipettai railway stations, led to the derailment of 12 coaches of the passenger train. Train movement on the entire section was affected, forcing the railways to cancel two trains and divert or operate more than half a dozen others via alternate routes.