Mashrekul of West Bengal's Malda district was heading to Chennai in search of work when the train tragedy in Odisha took away his life, officials said on Saturday.

Mashrekul, 23, was travelling on the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which was involved in the crash that killed 261 people, they said.

His family was in anxiety ever since they received the news of the accident on Friday night. "We got to know around 9 pm that the train on which Mashrekul was travelling has derailed. We started calling people travelling with him. We got to know about his death around dawn," his mother said, crying inconsolably.

"He left home on Thursday. He told us that he is going to Chennai for work," she said sitting outside her modest house in Dhangara village in Chanchal block.

Mashrekul, the sole bread-earner of the family, is survived by his parents, wife and two children.

Malatipur MLA Abdur Rahim Boxi of the TMC visited Mashrekul's house and assured the family of all possible support.

Nityam Ray, a resident of Bhomrail village in Bamangola police station area of the district, was also killed in the accident. He too was travelling on the Coromandel Express when the accident happened, his family said.

Ray, 30, spoke to his wife moments after he boarded the train from the Shalimar station in Howrah district. "That was the last time I spoke to him," she said.

He was going to Kerala along with a relative, Chandan Ray of Tapan police station area in Dakshin Dinajpur district, in search of work. The relative has been missing since the accident.

District Magistrate Nitin Singhania said 20 people from Malda were involved in the accident. Besides the two deceased, 12 people were injured in the mishap.

"The district administration was taking all steps for the safe return of the people. A control room has been set up at the Malda Town station for the assistance of the returning people," he told PTI.

The accident in Balasore involving three trains -- Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train -- killed at least 261 people and injured another 1,000, in one of the worst railway tragedies in the country.

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