This story is from May 9, 2020

What was our fault? We just wanted to go home: Survivor

Sajjansingh Dhurve from Pondi in Junawani of Mandal Khajeri cannot believe that his colleagues, with whom he was heading home, are no more.
What was our fault? We just wanted to go home: Survivor
Police and medical officials at the accident spot
AURANGABAD: Sajjansingh Dhurve from Pondi in Junawani of Mandal Khajeri cannot believe that his colleagues, with whom he was heading home, are no more.
Dhurve was among the 20 migrant workers who had set off from Jalna on foot towards Aurangabad. After walking nearly 40km, they were exhausted and decided to take a break. They were sleeping on the railway track near Satana village, when a goods train ran over them.
Sixteen of his colleagues died. Dhurve, who as sleeping at a distance from the others, said he was lucky to survive.
“We were exhausted after walking for so many kilometers. We became thirsty and tired, so decided to have water and take a break on the tracks. As soon as we sat, most of felt sleepy and dozed off while relaxing on the tracks,” he said.
He woke up to the horn of the goods train and the cries of his colleagues. He managed to jump aside in the nick of time before the train passed him by. He suffered some bruises.
“It all happened in a matter of few seconds. Only four of us could survive. We just wanted to go home. What was our fault,” said a visibly shaken Dhurve.
The other three with minor injuries, have been identified as Indralal Kamalsingh Dhurve of Povdi village in Ghogri of Mandla district, Virendrsingh Chainsingh Gaur of Maman in Pali of Umriya district and Shivamsingh Hiralal Gaur of Shahargad in Shahi tehsil of Sahdol district, all in Madhya Pradesh.

Indralal told TOI that he survived only because he was sleeping along the tracks. They decided to walk their way through railway tracks to reach Bhusawal, which is 160 km from Jalna, to avoid getting caught by the police deployed on roads and highways.
“We started walking from Jalna on Thursday night and were carrying rotis and water bottles. We wanted to go to Bhusawal junction, after we came know that some trains carrying stranded migrant workers were being released from there. We were planning to go there from Aurangabad,” said Virendrasingh. The spot where they halted for a break is barely 500 metres from the residence of Shaikh Rafiq, 34-year old police patil of Satana village. He was preparing for his early morning prayers, when he heard a loud sound of train coming to a screeching halt. It was an unusual sound and he rushed out to check what had happened.
“The sight was so gory that I felt giddy and sat on the ground to recover from the shocking sight. I soon recovered and immediately the Karmad police and other authorities,” he told TOI.
He said he noticed some people were alive and rushed to speak to them. “They were sitting at a distance and crying inconsolably. One of them, who survived the accident, was so shocked he could not express anything,” Rafiq said.
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