Travel fears and an unlikely survivor

Victims who narrowly escaped death say the thought of boarding a train still sends shivers down their spines. The sole surviving coach, however, bravely trundles on

Travel fears and an unlikely survivor

Victims who narrowly escaped death say the thought of boarding a train still sends shivers down their spines. The sole surviving coach, however, bravely trundles on
u00a0
Even five years after seven bomb blasts rocked the city's lifeline in a mere 11 minutes, victims say the scars have far from healed.
u00a0
While they are grateful at having survived the blasts, which claimed 209 lives, many say the thought of boarding a train still sends chills down their spine.

Coach No 864-A the only coach that survived out of the seven in which the blasts had taken placeu00a0and A memorial is built in memory of the 7/11 blast victims at Mahim

Prabhakar Mishra (60), a retired schoolteacher from Dahisar, said the blast cost him his hearing. "I cannot hear anything from my left ear and very little from the right ear.

I am very grateful to God, however, that I lived to tell the tale despite such a huge blast taking place in the compartment I was travelling in," he said.

Mishra had boarded the 6.05 pm local from Grant Road and had got a call from his grandson as soon as the train started moving. He was talking on the phone when he heard a big bang as the train entered Matunga Road station.

"I was standing near the door as I had to get down at Dahisar. Initially, I did not understand anything and even thought that there was some problem with my cellphone.

Soon enough, however, I had people's bodies and the train's fan and tubelights all over me. Seeing the bloody mess and people's body parts lying around, I was sure I wouldn't survive," said Mishra.

"But, in some time, a volunteer helped me get out of the coach. I had sustained severe cuts on my right hand, face, chest and my shirt was soaked in blood.

Everything was a blur and I couldn't understand what was going on. The volunteer helped me into a taxi and words wouldn't come out of my mouth when the taxi driver asked me where I wanted to go. I finally asked him to take me to my place in Dahisar."

"Even now, I always fear that something will happen when I board a train and I have never travelled during the rush hour since.

My deafness has also made me subject to ridicule on the roads when I try and cross and can't hear a vehicle's horn. The drivers make it a point to yell out and ask whether I'm deaf. If only I could tell them ufffd" he trailed off.

Saved by sleep
Dr Narasimha Kamath, a diet therapist and 7/11 victim, said he always travelled by the 6.13 pm Virar local but had taken the 6.01 pm Borivli local on that fateful day as he wanted to go home early.

He was sitting in the middle of the long rear seat and had put his head on his lap to go to sleep when he heard a loud noise.

Prabhakar Mishra, a retired schoolteacher from Dahisar, sustained severe cuts on his right hand, face, chest and lost his hearing and Dr Narasimha Kamath says that he would have died if he hadn't kept his head down

"The train had left Khar station when I heard a loud bang and felt a big object hit me. There was smoke all over the compartment and I couldn't comprehend what was going on.
u00a0
I got off the compartment and discarded my spectacles when I realised that they were broken. Some people helped me climb an eight-foot wall between the tracks and the road and I hailed an auto to get home," said Kamath.

"It was only after I got home that my head had cleared enough for me to realise that I had been in a train blast. I would have died if I hadn't kept my head down.

The person sitting next to me died because a strip of metal from the train slashed his head. That strip had whizzed past my head too. I had also seen many people and the dismembered parts of others lying in blood," he added.

Kamath lost 75 per cent hearing in the left ear and 65 per cent in the right one, but regained 80 per cent hearing in both ears because of his concerted efforts.

The bomb blasts had taken place in seven local train coaches at Matunga Road, Mahim, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayender and Borivli. 209 people had died and over 700 were injured.

Never say die
Coach number 864-A may be plying on Central Railway routes instead of Western Railway ones but it still carries the painful memories of the 7/11 blasts. It is the only survivor out of the seven in which the blasts had taken place and officials say it is still sturdy and will continue carrying passengers for many more years.