Lying in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Kharagpur's main railway hospital, 33-year-old driver of ill-fated goods train Nirbhay Kumar pleads: “Please give me a job with half the salary, I will leave this one. I cannot live with this fear every moment.”
According to an Indian Express report, Kumar, driver of the goods train that ran into the derailed Jnaneswari Express, sobs when he recalls the nightmare. “It is a miracle that I am alive. The moment we rammed the derailed coaches, a huge jolt threw me into the vacant area at the back of the engine... we could not see anything due to the dust and smoke. There was absolutely no vision,” he says.
“My assistant Riranjan Singh got stuck inside. His limbs were completely trapped. I tried to move forward to drag him out. Then I heard the sound of a crack and saw a portion of the engine collapse on him. Within seconds, I saw him under the mangled engine,” says Kumar. “After I managed to come out, I tried to get him out. But there was no hope, he was badly trapped.”
Nirbhay pauses and weeps. “He was like my brother. He has a two-year-old baby. I could not save him. He was shouting, Bhaiya mujhe bachaiye , bhaiya mujhe bachaiye. But I could not do anything. The incident took place at 1.20 am and I could hear his helpless cries till 3.30 am. I could not bear it.”
Nirbhay says he contacted the Traction Loco Control and told the officials about the incident. “I could not feel any pain in my body and my mind was completely blank,” says Nirbhay who has suffered serious injuries in his neck, waist and legs. “The rescue team reached the spot at 4 am. I requested them to save my assistant but they said their first priority was 50-60 passengers trapped inside rather than one person,” he says.
Nirbhay has been driving goods trains on the Tatanagar-Kharagpur track for 12 years. “After the Lalgarh movement, we are scared whenever we pass though this area. We have seen red flags and posters on the tracks but since we run goods trains, there is no security for us,” he says.
“Normally, a goods train runs at 60 kmph but due to Maoist activities in the area we have been instructed to move at 40 kmph. But as we were approaching a station, we were at 20 kmph today. Otherwise, the accident would have been worse,” he says. Nirbhay, a Jamshedpur resident, has not spoken to his family as he can't yet hold a phone. But his colleagues have told the family that he is fine.
