Title - Frantic search for survivors in hospital amidst dying hope

NELLORE: The anguish and agony of parents who lost their kin in the train mishap spewed out like lava from a volcano when they did not find their dear ones' bodies at the government general hospital here on Tuesday. They yelled and seethed with rage at the officials and staged a protest at the hospital where the bodies of unidentified passengers were kept.

Some of the parents rushed to Nellore and searched for the bodies of their kin. Although not finding the bodies among the retrieved from the ill-fated coach gave them a glimmer of hope about the survival of their kin, the official apathy in failing to provide information or details on the whereabouts of those missing is annoying the parents more. Though the authorities here did not rule out carrying out DNA tests on the unidentified bodies that were charred beyond recognition, parents and relatives said the response of the railways and hospital authorities was appalling.

Kakatiya University assistant registrar Gouri Shankar, father of Mandarapu Avinash, 24, entered into a wordy duel with the police and doctors at the hospital as no official was at hand to provide information about his missing son, who was presumed dead. Shankar became emotional and burst into tears. "While God has given us the cruellest punishment, the officials are torturing us more without giving any information," Shankar cried. Avinash was a software engineer with an IT major in Chennai and returning for work after spending the weekend with his parents in Warangal when he met with the fire mishap. His berth was 38.

Relatives of another victim Kalasagar Burre, too, protested with the officials as the body of the young techie was not traced in the bundle of the bodies. Kalasagar, a resident of Tuni in East Godavari district, reached Vijayawada in Godavari Express and took the ill-fated Tamil Nadu Express on Sunday night to reach Chennai. He was working with Barryway Millers, a multinational IT company, and travelling in berth no 55.

At least 11 passengers were yet to be traced as the relatives of the victims did not locate the bodies of their kin among the retrieved bodies. Meanwhile, doctors said they could hand over only those bodies which were identified by their relatives. "They are insisting us to show us the bags containing the ash remains and parts of bodies kept for sending for DNA. We can hand over the ash remains only after getting the DNA analysis report," said an official at the hospital.

Although junior railway minister Muniappa asked the police to shift the bodies to the railway hospital to Perambadur near Chennai, senior police officials convinced the minister that it could create more problems for the relatives as a majority of the victims hailed from AP. Sources said the police had decided to keep the unidentified bodies in the mortuary at the general hospital.

Meanwhile, the authorities claimed that they had handed over 14 bodies to their kin after identification while efforts were underway to embalm the remaining bodies at the mortuary. Collector B Sridhar said they had handed over 14 bodies to the relatives of the deceased. "The identification of other bodies was going on," he added.