Miraculous Survival: Man Found Alive 48 Hours After Deadly Train Collision In Odisha

On Sunday evening, relief and rescue workers had concluded for the day at Balasore district where the three trains collided killing 278 and leaving over 1,000 injured.

Following two intense days of searching for survivors and casualties, NDRF director Atul Karwal declared on Sunday evening that the likelihood of discovering anyone else was now slim. Consequently, the focus shifted towards restoring track services.

Nonetheless, the preceding 48 hours witnessed the arrival of over a thousand personnel from both state and central agencies, who now stood scattered, fatigued.

Suddenly, at approximately 5:30 pm, a faint voice caught the attention of a small group of police officers from the Soro police station. The workers found a man alive underneath the bush, adjacent to an overturned carriage of the Coromandel Express, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

"We were surprised how a man could be alive after 48 hours of a train accident such as this. We called for help and aided by some social workers, took him to the community centre at Soro. He was administered first aid there, and rushed to the Balasore district headquarters hospital," the daily quoted a policeman from the Soro police station.

The man was weak from injury and dehydrated and he identified himself as 35-year-old Dulal Mazumdar from Assam. He was travelling on the Coromandel Express. There were five others with him, but it is not sure whether they are alive or not.

"He was in the general compartment of Coromandel Express when the accident happened. He was probably flung off and landed in the bush. It is a miracle that he has survived for two days," said Dr Subhajit Giri of Balasore district headquarter hospital.

At around 7 pm on Friday, the crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train occurred near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar. As many as 17 coaches of these two passenger trains were derailed and severely damaged in the deadly accident.