Outside the mortuary at the Government General Hospital in Vizianagaram, family members of those killed in Sunday’s train accident at Kantakapalle sit together in silence, struggling to come to terms with the devastating tragedy that tore their lives apart hours before.
Many of those who were killed in the train accident that occurred at Kantakapalli on Sunday were daily labourers, who used to commute to and from work on the Palasa Passenger for years. In the absence of economic activity and income opportunities in their hometowns of Garividi, Cheepurupalli (Vizianagaram district) and G. Sigadam (Srikakulam district), they used to travel on this train to Visakhapatnam to work at construction sites.
One of the deceased passengers, Karanam Appalanaidu, 35, hailing from Kapusambham village, would board the Palasa Passenger (58531) at Garividi at 7.41 a.m. and catch the return train (58532) at 8.27 p.m., coming back home to his wife and two children. This had been his regular routine for years. Appalanaidu’s long association with the Palasa Passenger came to an abrupt, unexpected end on Sunday.
