2 more bodies found in wreckage, toll rises to 9

Jalpaiguri: The Maynaguri train accident toll climbed to nine on Friday with rescue workers pulling out two more bodies from the wreckage in the early hours. Among the dead, six persons have been identified. Three were residents of Bengal, two of Assam and one of UP. The others are yet to be identified.
The state also released a list of 46 more injured passengers who are under treatment at Jalpaiguri Superspecialty Hospital.Only a few are critical, officials said following the visit of railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to the hospital.
Survivor Rufia Khatun, the mother of seven-year-old Shahida who is among the nine deceased, was inconsolable. “We were returning home from Bihar. A big jolt woke me up; my head hit something hard and I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I was lying beside the tracks, but my daughter was nowhere near me. I kept looking for her in the dark, but in vain. They brought her lifeless body out from a coach late in the night. What will I do without her?” the resident of Assam’s Barpeta said.
United in grief was hexagenarian Jogesh Chandra Roy who had to take home the body of his 38-year-old nephew Subash — the victim whose image went viral on television channels on Thursday as his lifeless, blood-caked corpse leaned against a window crunched between two coaches. “He has left behind a month-old daughter. He was coming home to see her for the first time. How can god be so cruel?” said Roy, a resident of Cooch Behar.
Liton Roy, a friend of 23-year-old Chiranjit Burman, a daily labourer from Bengal’s Putimari killed in the accident, said they panicked after seeing the news on TV. “I frantically called Chiranjit, but there was no response. Later in the evening, a policeman picked up the call and told me my friend was dead.”
Agra resident and civil engineer Kuldeep Rawat, who is admitted to the surgical ward with multiple hand and leg fractures, recalled the nightmare. “I was standing near the door of the S5 compartment when there was a sudden jerk. I was flung out of the train and landed on the tracks. I immediately knew I had broken my limbs, but somehow managed to pull out my brother and a lady before I lost consciousness,” he said.
Among those admitted to hospital here are Bihar resident Kundan Kumar Singh and Rajasthan native Jagdish Prajapati. The father of one of the injured has lodged an FIR against the engine driver, citing negligence on his part.