Teen skips own berth to have food with parents, escapes crash

BERHAMPUR: A 16-year-old boy, who was travelling in the Coromandel Express narrowly escaped from the worst train accident at Bahanaga in Balasore district on Friday evening, as he decided not to go to his assigned seat in the train’s B8 coach.
George Jaccob Das of Berhampur, who recently passed his matriculation, stayed with his parents in coach B2, which fortunately remained unaffected in the accident involving three trains. His father, Ezekiel Das (49), had planned to request the TTE to change his son’s seat to travel together. Otherwise, he would have gone back to his berth after dinner.
“When I along with my son was about to go to coach B8 to request the TTE to change my son’s set, my wife Sumita suggested that they go after dinner, which they would take when the train nears Cuttack,” said Ezekiel, a contractor of Goshaninuagaon area here.
“Later, we came to know that some passengers of coach B8 have been killed, while several others were injured in the accident,” said Ezekiel, who along with his family members returned home safely on Saturday night. “We thanked God for saving us from such a horrific accident,” said Sumita.
“While we were discussing about changing my son’s seat, we heard a crashing sound and the train started to shake. People rammed into each other while women and children started crying,” he said. When the coach came to a halt, some of us got down and came to know about the accident.
“When I came out of the coach, I saw limbs strewn all around, while someone’s face was disfigured and people were running in the dark. “I tried to help those trapped under the coaches,” he said. “The same night, we reached the house of one of our relatives and on Saturday came to Berhampur by road,” he added. Ezekiel said they had gone to Kharagpur to attend a function on Thursday and was returning in the Coromandel Express when the accident took place.