After the triple-train crash in Balasore on Friday, Dilkhush Mishra of Bihar did not wait for government rescue or assistance.
He extricated himself, his grandfather Rajendra and uncle Sonu from a mangled general compartment of the Coromandel Express before the trio went to a hospital with help from local people and arranged their travel back home on their own.
Now, the question gnawing at the resident of Chua village in Jamui district is: Will the government help (with compensation) those like him who helped themselves?
While the authorities keep records of the passengers with reserved tickets, they only maintain a count of the unreserved tickets sold on a particular route on a particular day without any means of knowing who boarded which train.
According to the latest bulletin issued by the state disaster management department, 39 people from Bihar died in the train disaster, 47 were injured and 21 are still “missing”.
The list of injured, which gives a district-wise breakup, shows just one injured from Jamui. This suggests the Mishras — all three of whom suffered injuries — have not been counted. The trio, who returned home on Monday, have not contacted the authorities yet.
Dilkhush on Tuesday recalled the horror of the train crash. “The coach was jam-packed and I was somehow making my way to the toilet. Suddenly, there was a loud sound and the train began swaying,” he said.
“I was worried and tried to hurry back to my seat. Suddenly a few people fell on me and everything went blank.”
When Dilkhush regained consciousness, he realised that a steel rod from the window grill had pierced his left thigh. His left hand was injured too.
“I braved the pain and freed my thigh from the rod. I crawled out of the mangled coach and bandaged the wound with the gamchha (thin towel) I had around my neck,” Dilkhush said.
“I began shouting for my grandfather and found him. Luckily he was not seriously injured. I pulled him out of the coach.”
Sonu was seriously injured with lots of cuts, and was trapped in mangled metal and wood. Dilkhush pulled him out with help from others. He used his mobile to call a relative in Bhubaneswar, who arrived in a few hours.
“There was complete chaos at the accident site. After my relative arrived, we somehow trudged 2km, carrying our uncle. We reached a village where we took painkillers and received first aid at a medicine shop,” Dilkhush told reporters.
He remembers the kindness of the local people who helped them to a private clinic some distance away.
“We all received medical care and medicines there. We hired a private ambulance the next day (Saturday) to travel back home. My uncle has been admitted to a hospital in Bhagalpur. He is serious,” Dilkhush said.
East Central Railway chief public relations officer Virendra Kumar said the railways would compensate every injured and the family of every dead victim, “but they will have to give some proof of travel, like the tickets, and the medical attention papers”.
“We are providing Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the dead and Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively, as compensation for the injured depending on the severity of their injuries,” he said.
Virendra added that the injured, including the Mishras, can call the helpline numbers publicised by the railways.
Dilkhush said he had the tickets and the necessary papers and would get in touch with the railway authorities.