Unemployed brothers Monotosh and Santosh Mondal who escaped with injuries from the triple train accident in Balasore, believe they have been given a second life.

The duo now recuperating at a state-run hospital here, had boarded the ill-fated Coromandel-Express from Shalimar to travel to Kerala after being offered ajob there, on Friday evening.

"We were supposed to board the train on Thursday, but we finally managed to get tickets for Friday. 'Bhai' (brother) and I were sitting on a side berth when there was a huge sound followed by a massive jerk and everything went dark and I lost consciousness,” Monotosh told this reporter at the Trauma care centre at the city's SSKM Hospital.

“When I opened my eyes I found myself hanging out of the windows of the bogey, but could not see Santosh," he said.

Monotosh, whose hand was in a cast, said that locals helped him down and it was then that he spotted Santosh, lying bleeding from a head injury nearby.

There were blodied fellow passengers strewn all around.

The two brothers said "For us it was as if God had given us a second life, as we could see that many of those who had started the journey with us were no longer alive".

"We were injured, bleeding but more worrying for us was that our mobile devices were missing ... which meant that we could not contact our relatives to come and help us after this near death experience,” Monotosh said.

The duo said they recieved medical aid locally and were later shifted to Kolkata's SSKM Hospital Traumacare centre where they are being treated.

Dr Monimoy Banerjee, director of the Hospital told PTI, "Six persons who were injured in the train accident in Balasore were brought here last night. All of them were treated by us." According to a state health department official over 80 patients from the accident site were referred or brought to various hospitals in the state.

"The largest number - more than 60 are admitted at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital,” MSVP Midnapore Medical College and Hospital Jayanta Rout said when contacted.

Most had suffered fractures in their hands, legs, hips, chest and severe abrasions, he added.

The West Bengal government has sent 70 ambulances and around 40 doctors and nurses to Odisha to help with medi-care for victims of the accident which occurred on Friday when the Coromandel Express rammed into a stationary goods train and many of its carriages overturned including someonto another train - the Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express.

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