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Four men from a Kakdwip village on Coromandel Express are still missing

For one of the men, who was orphan and has no children, there are no blood relatives to give sample for possible DNA match

Sanjay Mandal Kolkata Published 14.07.23, 05:16 AM
Abbachuddin Seikh; Sajjat Seikh; Samsul Huda Seikh; Jamaluddin Seikh

Abbachuddin Seikh; Sajjat Seikh; Samsul Huda Seikh; Jamaluddin Seikh

Four men from a village in Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas who were on the Coromandel Express that met with a deadly accident on June 2 are still missing.

For one of the men, who was an orphan and has no children, there are no blood relatives to give a sample for a possible DNA match.

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The four, from Madhusudanpur 64 Bari, Ramtanunagar village in Kakdwip block, were on their way to Chennai to work at construction sites.

The Coromandel Express they were travelling in was involved in a triple train crash near Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha’s Balasore, which left 292 dead and over 1,000 injured.

A South Eastern Railway official said the bodies of 41 passengers were still lying in morgues and were yet to be identified. “Forty bodies have been handed to family members after DNA matching. There are 41 bodies lying in morgues that are yet to be identified,” the official said.

However, for Jamaluddin Seikh, 37, one of the four from the Kakdwip village, there is no one to give a blood sample for DNA matching.

“He is an orphan and has no children. Only his wife is there. So, no blood sample could be collected for a DNA match,” said Azizur Rehman Laskar, Jamaluddin’s brother-in-law. “We have been to Odisha twice — a day after the accident and then again a few weeks later. I have given copies of my brother-in-law’s Aadhaar card and voter card to officials at several hospitals in Odisha. There is no news yet,” said Azizur.

Sajjat Seikh, another missing passenger, has a wife, two sons and a daughter. One of his brothers had given a blood sample for DNA matching on June 6.

His nephew, Moyzuddin Seikh, who was on that train, died and his body was handed over to his family.

“There is still no information about Sajjat. We don’t know whom to approach, said Jamaluddin, one of Sajjat’s brothers. “How will his family run now?” he asked.

The other two missing men from Kakdwip are Samsul Huda Seikh, 30, and Abbachuddin Seikh, 20.

Samsul’s elder brother has given a blood sample and the family members are waiting for news of a match.

“Once we heard 28 bodies had been identified through DNA matching. We rushed to Bhubaneswar but learnt that Samsul’s was not one of them,” said Nurul Huda Seikh, who had given his blood sample for identification.

“So long his body is not identified, his family won’t get any compensation,” he said.

Family members of Abbachuddin, too, are hoping for a DNA match. His father Ebadall Seikh had gone to Odisha a few weeks ago after being told that his son’s body had been identified. But it turned out to be someone else’s body.

“This uncertainty is unbearable,” said Ebadall

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