Volunteers assist victims, rescuers at mishap site, hospitals

Amid scenes of tragedy, a number of good samaritans took it upon themselves to provide succour to the traumatised passengers of the Indore-Patna Express

Pukhrayan, Nov 21: Amid scenes of tragedy, a number of good samaritans took it upon themselves to provide succour to the traumatised passengers of the Indore-Patna Express that derailed yesterday and help out the rescuers and others on the site and in hospitals by providing food and water.

Volunteers from several NGOs, RSS, Sikh organisations and even from many political outfits remained at the accident site till late in the night as rescuers struggled to pull out passengers trapped in the mangled bogies.

The volunteers visited injured victims and the distraught families in the hospitals and distributed drinking water, tea, snacks and fruits among them.

Rescue workers, policemen as well as journalists who have remained stationed here after the derailment were also provided refreshments Nearly a dozen RSS volunteers were seen helping the victims.

They transferred the luggage from the train and offered biscuits to the injured and their family members in hospitals. Some politicians too came forward to help the victims. Kanpur Dehat Samajwadi Party secretary Anoop Singh distributed biscuits and water bottles at the accident spot.

"It is our duty to help the victims in this crisis. This is the least we could do," Singh said. Gayatri Pariwar has also extended its support by sending over half dozen of women members to help the victims and provide some assistance to the officials here.

Rama Devi, a member of the Pariwar, said that they have contributed some money and were using donations for tea and snacks that were being distributed. Other volunteers did not wish to be named saying that they were not doing it for publicity.

"We don't want to disclose our names to gain publicity. We are here simply to help," said one such NGO worker. J S Arora was leading a group of over a dozen members from a Sikh organisation to help the victims at a hospital here.

Members of the local business community were also helping the injured and their families with food items. Indian Medical Association's Kanpur unit chief Praveen Katiyar also remained at the spot with a team of doctors till late in the night.

143 people have died after the Indore-Patna Express derailed here in Kanpur rural area just a little after 0300 hrs yesterday.

PTI