BHUBANESWAR: It was by a sheer stroke of luck that M K Deb and his eight-year-old daughter, Swati swapped their seats in the ill-fated Coromandel Express and defied death at the last moment on Friday evening.
The father-daughter duo boarded the train at Kharagpur and were supposed to get down at Cuttack as they had an appointment with a doctor on Saturday. Though they had the tickets to travel in a third AC coach, the child insisted on sitting near a window.
“We did not have a window seat ticket. We requested the TC, who suggested we get our seats swapped with other passengers, if possible. We went to another coach and requested two persons, who agreed. They came to our original coach while we sat in their seats in the coach, which was positioned three rakes away," said Deb, a government employee in Kharagpur.
After some time, the horrifying tragedy occurred that left 288 dead. Fortunately, the coach in which the father-daughter duo was travelling was not damaged much while the other coach where their seats were reserved turned into mangled metal, leaving many dead.
"We are not aware of the conditions of the two passengers, who agreed to change their seats with us. We pray for their safety. At the same time, we are grateful to the almighty for this miracle. Almost all passengers in our coach were safe," he said.
The man and his daughter, who sustained minor injuries, managed to reach Cuttack on Saturday morning with the help of locals. The child has an abscess on her left hand and wanted to consult the doctor.
"I fell short of words to express my feelings when I came to know about the father-daughter duo’s miraculous escape. She suffered minor injuries after falling down inside the coach following the collision," said paediatrician Vikram Samal.
