GUWAHATI: Passengers aboard the Kolkata-Sairang Express struggled to get out after the train derailed at a station in Assam on Wednesday morning, with its pantry car manager saying the train continued moving for about a kilometre even after the derailment.Recalling the moments before the train came to a halt, the pantry car manager said he and other passengers were asleep when they heard an unusual sound as the train crossed Digaru Railway Station.He said the engine appeared to have derailed, but the train continued moving, leaving passengers frightened and unable to open the gates, news agency ANI reported.“We were asleep around 5am today. Everything was fine till Guwahati; the train halted there. It resumed the journey from there. The speed was good. When the train arrived at Digaru Station, it slowed down a little,” he said.“When it crossed the platform at the station, a sound was heard. We don’t know what that sound was. Barely a few metres ahead, I felt the engine derail. We moved for another km in that derailed state. I fell from my seat thrice. We could not open the gate. We were all anxious. After 10 minutes, the train stopped,” he added.The pantry car manager said the engine and power car were badly damaged. He also expressed gratitude that passengers had escaped without casualties.“We thanked Chhatthi, whose blessings kept us all safe; otherwise, we would have been dead. The power car and engine are completely out of order now,” he said.Another passenger also described the difficulty in evacuating from the train after the incident. The passenger said the cramped space between compartments made it difficult for people to get out, ANI reported.“After the accident, we tried to evacuate. But the space between compartments was cramped; we had trouble. But a train from Sairang is coming to take us,” the passenger said.The derailment took place around 6.54am when Train No. 13125, travelling from Kolkata to Sairang, was entering Digaru Railway Station in Kamrup (Metro) district.The locomotive and five coaches derailed while the train was being received at the station to give precedence to the Jan Shatabdi Express, according to Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).NFR chief public relations officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said the loco pilot could not control the train’s speed in time. He said the train was moving at a low speed and no casualties or major injuries had been reported.An alternative train was being arranged from Guwahati to take passengers to their destinations.NFR said senior railway officials, including the general manager, had reached the site to oversee restoration work. An investigation will also be conducted to determine the cause of the derailment, ANI reported.The incident affected the movement of two other trains.Train No. 12067 (Guwahati-Jorhat Town) Jan Shatabdi Express was controlled at Panbari, while Train No. 15627 (Coimbatore-Silchar) Express was controlled at Panikhaiti.(With agency inputs)
