Human cries for help tore through the silence of the night, as the superfast Coromandel Express came to a screeching halt, after its bogies were derailed near Jajpur Road station in Orissa on Friday night.
"It was very dark and I could hear the shouts of many for help. There was utter chaos," Anupam Nayak, who was traveling to Cuttack from Howrah in the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express, said.
Nayak said most passengers in the S-11 coach of the train, in which he was traveling along with his family members, were safe.
"We were fortunate as several bogies including the one adjacent to ours had not only derailed but overturned," he told PTI over telephone from the spot.
Nayak said he saw several passengers, including women, trying to climb out of the windows of the overturned coaches.
The mishap occurred just after the superfast express crossed Jajpur Road station, where it does not stop.
Shalini Sarkar, a resident of Tollygunge area of Kolkata, who was traveling in the S2 coach of the Coromondel Express, said, "The train was going at a high speed when suddenly there was a bang, accompanied by a big jerk, and after that the coach began tilting.
"I fell down from my seat and other passengers and luggage tumbled on me," Shalini, who was on her way to join her college in Chennai, said.
"It took us some time to understand what was happening. My fellow passengers dragged me from under the luggage and we managed to come out from the emergency exit of the coach," she said.
"When we came out, we found that our coach S2 had telescoped on the S1 coach. The 14 coaches after the S2 coach were tilting and only four to five rear coaches were intact," she said.
Dhuku Nath, a Traveling Ticket Examiner, who was on duty in one of the rear AC coaches, said that there was a big jerk and the train came to a halt.
"On coming out of the coach, I found that 14 coaches had derailed. The police have cordoned off the area and a relief train has also arrived at the spot," he said.