By Matters India Reporter
Khatauli: In times of distress, Indians forget their caste and creed differences to help the needy. This was demonstrated again on August 21 when a northern Indian town rose as one to help passengers of a train accident.
The Kalinga Utkal Express derailed at Khatauli, a laid-back town in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, some 100 km east of New Delhi. The train’s 13 coaches and the pantry car went off the track, killing 22 people and injuring 156.
Hundreds of men and women, young and old, Hindus, Muslims and Christians rose as one people when they heard the cries of the passengers trapped inside mangled coaches.
The first to reach the victims were Hindus from Jagat Colony and Muslim from Islamabad village that lie adjacent to the accident site.
They tirelessly ferried water and food for the rescuers and others.
Catholic nuns who teach in Khatauli’s St Thomas School also visited the accident site on August 20 to join relief works. The school is managed by the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate congregation.
People trickled in from neighbouring Meerut too. Some brought food, while others medicine, which they distributed at the hospital.
The town became a shining symbol of harmony and unity in the hours of distress, remarked the Press Trust of India news agency.
The first to respond were local people such as Manoj Baliyan and his cousin Mukesh Baliyan.
Manoj, whose house was close to the tracks, said he heard the loud crunch of metal and the screams of the people. One end of the mangled S-2 coach had climbed atop another carriage and crashed into his house.
It was carefully pulled away only on August 20 evening by the railways restoration team.
“The people were in great pain and crying, ‘Save me, Save me’ and ‘God, help us’. We had never seen something like this before. The sight was terrifying,” Baliyan said.
All he could see was a mangled coach that had rammed into the front of the house and bodies outside, along the track.
Notwithstanding his own trauma, Baliyan got down to rescue whoever he could.
“In a few minutes, we saw the tracks splattered with blood. Some of the passengers were left perilously caged in mangled train coaches. They were crying in agony. We took small cutting equipment, whatever we could manage, in a short time and went to help them,” he narrated.
Mukesh, a relative of Baliyan, added, “We survived by god’s grace. If the train had gone through our house, we would have all got buried.”
The duo spent a sleepless night, saving lives and providing succour. They also brought tea and refreshments for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and the government officials.
If some brought food, others took on the job of guiding traffic.
“The day the accident took place, people from all parts of the town flocked to the site. It was a massive crowd. You could see hundreds of people, stretching as far as the eye could see, on both sides of the accident site,” said Manoj.
Nuruddin, who runs a sweet shop in Khatauli, said he away when the tragedy struck. “My sons immediately rushed to the site and helped in rescuing people. We are praying for the well-being of the injured. It’s a tragedy that has left us overwhelmed. No one in our family or colony has slept a wink,” he added.
Sumir Kumar, a labourer, was returning from work with his friend when the accident occurred.
“We went there with cutters and gas cylinders to help in cutting the mangled coach,” he added.