A 26-year-old Ahmedabad resident was thrown off and flung across the coach with at least eight others while sleeping on the side top berth number 72 in S4 coach of train number 12480, the Bandra-Jodhpur Suryanagari Express. He only discovered later that the train had derailed at 3.27 a.m. somewhere in Rajasthan’s Pali district.
Monark Mahesh Javle, 26, a marketing professional and amateur writer from the city’s Vasna district, had boarded the train from Ahmedabad and was on his way to Jodhpur to pick up his wife from a family function when the incident occurred.
While railway officials claimed that no deaths occurred, officials reported that approximately 24 people were injured and required treatment at the Pali government hospital. Javle received 6-7 stitches on his hand, his left thigh was scratched, and he was injured on his elbow. Despite several people landing on him during the train accident, he miraculously avoided major injuries.
“The coach flew into the air before landing on the side of the tracks,” Javle explained. As far as I could tell, S2, S3, and S4 were all lying on their sides. When the train derailed, I was awake and was thrown through the coach twice. Many schoolchildren were squished into each other in the six berths opposite mine. An elderly woman emerged from the restroom covered in blood.
According to Javle, he and at least three other young men in the same coach dragged themselves out through the coach and attempted to rescue as many children and injured people as possible. “I was scared and in shock,” he explained. I saw a lot of blood and passed out while being taken to the hospital.”
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced a compensation package of Rs 1 lakh for those who have been seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those who have suffered minor injuries. Javle stated that he, too, received Rs 25,000 and tickets for himself and his wife to travel back to Ahmedabad on the same train on Monday evening.