The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Sister Celine recounts train’s derailment

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Monday, Feb 16, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Sister Celine recounts train’s derailment

R. Srikanth

— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Miraculous escape: Sister Celine Xavier who travelled on Friday by the Howrah-Chennai Central Coromandel Express that derailed, on arrival in Chennai on Sunday.

CHENNAI: Sister Celine Xavier shows little signs of having survived a terrible accident involving the Howrah-Chennai Central Coromandel Express train, which derailed in Orissa on Friday.

With a large smile on her face, the 70-year-old Superior of the Convent of Providence in Kolkata recounted her experience when she arrived in the city on Sunday by a special relief train.

“It is a kind of miracle for the passengers to have survived such a major accident,” she said. Sister Celine Xavier and 81 other passengers were travelling by B1 coach that was next to the pantry car of the Express train.

“It was around 8 p.m. when I was talking with some co-passengers that the train came to a sudden stop with a big jolt. Nobody moved [from the seats] for a few minutes and then when we came to know that the train had derailed. Despite being close to the general compartment, which derailed, our coach was not affected.”

The passengers got down and walked to the nearest railway station, a few kilometres away from the site of the accident.

She appreciated the local people and the railway officials for their quick and efficient response. Sister Celine, who is visiting the city to attend a meeting, said she had planned to visit her friends, but that was not to be as she had lost a day due to the accident.

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