By PTI
GUWAHATI: A man, injured in the train derailment in West Bengal, was reunited with his family in Assam on Friday with the help of the loudspeakers at a mosque that are used for namaz.
Safikul Ali, a resident of Dhula in Assam’s Darrang district, was among those injured in the Bikaner-Guwahati Express train derailment in the neighbouring state’s Jalpaiguri district on Thursday.
Having narrowly escaped the accident that claimed nine lives, Ali was undergoing treatment at the Super Specialty Hospital in Jalpaiguri, where Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the injured on Friday.
“While enquiring about Ali’s wellbeing, the minister learnt that he was unable to contact his family as neither does he nor his family members has a mobile phone,” a Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official told PTI.
Ali said he had the phone number of a neighbour, and Vaishnaw immediately got him connected with that person, the official said.
But, the neighbour could not find Ali’s family at home, nor did a postman arranged by the minister could track them down, he added.
After efforts to contact the family failed, an announcement was made from the village mosque through the loudspeakers used for namaaz, the official said.
Following this, the family learnt about Ali’s condition and got in touch with the railway authorities.
Ali’s elder brother is now on the way to Jalpaiguri, he added.
At least nine people were killed and 36 others injured when 12 coaches of the train derailed near Domohani in Jalpaiguri district on Thursday.