“I was on the top berth when the incident took place. Fortunately the emergency window was next to my berth and I managed to come out of it,” said Subhajit, who works with the Indian Air Force. Subhajit, who was on berth number 20 of S4, had changed seats with two people and got the berth near the emergency window.

He said he did not see those with whom he had exchanged berths coming out. “There was a loud explosion and the train overturned after which there was a complete blackout. I spotted the emergency window and came out after 20 minutes. The S4 compartment was badly mangled,” said Subhajit. He sustained serious head injuries.

With face blackened and head bandaged, Rahim Sheikh reached Howrah station around noon. Rahim along with eight others were going to Mumbai to work as daily wage earners. “There was darkness and smoke inside the train. I crawled through in the darkness and got out somehow,” said Sheikh, a resident of Katwa in Burdwan district.

Grieving and anxious relatives of those who had taken the ill-fated train trickled in at Howrah station since morning, rushing from one help desk to another, for any information on their loved ones. “What is the situation of S3. My son-in-law was in that coach. I cannot contact him on his cell,” said Sambhu Payat, of Howrah, holding a piece of paper with the PNR written on it. His son-in-law Prosenjit Ata (42) had called his daughter Jyutika around 11 pm Thursday after boarding the train. That was the last they heard from him.