People who have come back from the mouth of death say that it is as if angels have come and saved them. There, every person has his own story, in which he himself is a character, and the horrifying scene that he saw, may not be forgotten for life. Between the mutilated dead bodies and the cries of the injured everywhere, a two-and-a-half-year-old child clings to the dead body of the mother and dies crying.

A father's eyes turned to stone while searching for his son in a pile of dead bodies on the ground. A moment ago, the sister with whom family affairs were being discussed while sitting together, now only the sister's handbag is left in the hands of that brother. A mother is lying unconscious after seeing the dead body of her 26-year-old son. A wife is desperately searching for her husband amidst a stream of tears. Hearing the tragedy of people, the heart trembles, the heart starts coming out and the mind remains numb.

Shabana Begum, who is going to Chennai with her 26-year-old son Ashraf from Malda, faints as soon as she sees her son's dead body. When people give her water, then after regaining consciousness, she starts crying again and tells that there is a daughter-in-law and two small grandchildren at home. Seeing the dead body of the son, she only complains, why did he leave her in the middle of the way.

A family who survived the accident told that they could not believe that they survived. Husband-wife and daughter didn't even get a scratch.

A passenger told that when the accident happened at around 7 pm, most of the people were still awake. The train stopped with a loud bang and jolt. Didn't understand what happened. When I got down and saw, it was a soul-trembling scene.

Ramchander, a resident of Sugo in Balasore, Odisha, was searching for his 8-year-old son in a pile of dead bodies. He told that he was going to Chennai by Coromandel Express with his son. Searching for son since night, but can't find it anywhere. When asked the police, they have sent here towards the pile of dead bodies. After this, Ramchander starts seeing the faces of the dead bodies with stone eyes. The only thing that comes on his lips again and again is that where is he... hey, he is not getting it at all.

Sunny of Madhepura in Bihar says. He was traveling in the general coach. Don't know anyone nearby. When the accident happened, he felt that he might not survive today. But, as if some miracle happened and an angel came and saved them. Most of the people around could not survive. Sunny told that he had fainted after leaving the train, when he woke up, he was in the hospital. He has got minor injuries.

Jagdeb Patra, admitted to Balasore Hospital, told that both his hands were broken in the accident. He was going to Chennai. Mukesh Pandit is also injured. Told that he was traveling in the Coromandel Express to Chennai, when the accident happened, he fainted. When I regained consciousness, I was feeling a lot of pain.

The cry of death is also overshadowed. Heaps of dead bodies wrapped in white cloth are visible in the morgue of the hospital. Most of these have not been identified. Most of the relatives are not able to reach Balasore due to halt and disruption of rail service. Many people from West Bengal are reaching hospitals and mortuaries in search of their relatives and friends in distress. Along with praying, they are somehow found alive.

Sudhanshu Mani, former general manager of Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, prima facie denied any wrongdoing of the two loco pilots. "The primary reason for the large-scale accident was the derailment of the coaches of the first train and the passing of another speeding train coming from the other direction at the same time," he said. Mani led the team that built the first Vande Bharat train. If it was only the derailment of the first train, Mani said, there would not have been so many casualties.