Title - Kin of accident victims throng help-line

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the Vijayawada railway station, when relatives of the passengers who boarded Tamil Nadu Express were seen enquiring about the welfare of their kin at the help-desk on Monday.

Family members of the missing persons in the train mishap were trying to get details of their dear ones over mobile phones, toll-free numbers and from the control rooms set up at Nellore and Vijayawada railway stations since morning.

A total of 28 passengers boarded the train here which was proceeding to Chennai. The fate of several passengers was not known and their cell phones were not functioning. Friends and relatives of some passengers went to Nellore to know the fate of their dear ones.

K. Venkata Ramana, his wife Pallavi, and aunt I. Nagarani, who boarded the ill-fated train, are missing and not responding over mobile phones.

The couple, native of Anigandlapadu village in Penuganchiprolu mandal, in Krishna district, got married six months ago.

Mr. Ramana is working as a software engineer in Chennai.

The new couple along with Nagarani left home at 9 p.m. on Sunday to board the train, said Pallavi’s brother Amaresh, who thronged the help-desk here.

Another couple – Y. Sampath Kumar and Jasnavi – of Penamaluru boarded the train at Vijayawada to go to Chennai. Sampath is undergoing treatment in Bollineni Hospital after the mishap, while the whereabouts of Jasnavi are not known.

A few passengers, including V. Koteswara Rao, S.S. Verma, S. Madanlal, Tirupatamma, and G.R. Srinivas, were admitted to other hospitals in Nellore.

The details of some other passengers were not known.