Baby reunited with family after train tragedy

JHARGRAM - A two-year-old boy, Shaukat, who lost his father in the Gyaneshwari Express tragedy and whose mother is in hospital with severe injuries, was reunited with his grandfather and uncle Saturday, thanks to TV coverage by local channels.

The child was lying alone in Midnapore Medical College Hospital with minor injuries under the supervision of the nurses till his grandfather and uncle came to take him home.

Television footage of the traumatised boy with bandage on his head and injury marks on the face was repeatedly aired Saturday morning on local channels at the request of the hospital authorities.

Shaukat was travelling with his parents, who are from Bihar, in the ill-fated Gyaneshwari Express. He lost his father in the incident, while his mother is still lying in Kharagpur Hospital with severe injuries.

“We saw his pictures on television and came here to find him. We are happy that we have found him but very sad also as we lost our brother. My sister-in-law is admitted in Kharagpur hospital with a leg fracture,” Shaukat’s uncle told reporters.

Shaukat was on his way to Mumbai with his parents to visit their relatives.

The train went off the track between Sardiha and Khemasuli railway stations after suspected Maoists removed 1.5 feet of rail track, at 1.30 a.m. Friday. Five coaches fell on a parallel track.

Even before the trapped passengers could realise what had happened, a speeding goods train coming from the opposite direction rammed into the five coaches, crushing some of them.