The Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express was always the preferred choice for Alok Sarkar. On Saturday, the 48-year-old boarded the train for Muzaffarnagar.
“Never thought that this would be his last journey,” his elder brother said as he struggled to come to terms with the loss. “My brother used to work at the Divisional Railway Manager’s office in Delhi. He would always take this train.”
Fourteen coaches of the train derailed near Khatauli, one crashing into a house by the track.
Sarkar’s brother-in-law said the family received the body and was taking it to Delhi for cremation on Sunday.
“We have identified 12 bodies, and autopsy has been done,” Divisional Commissioner, Saharanpur, Deepak Agarwal said.
Later on, an official said four more bodies were identified. “The victims hailed from Rajasthan, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh and Aligarh,” he said.
At the mortuary here, the family members of the victims, some of them survivors themselves, gathered to collect the bodies, a few of them crying.