Hope fades, despair sets in for kin of victim from Bihar

The last strand of hope which kept the family members of Pratap Vinay optimistic about his survival wore out on Monday, giving way to extreme grief, as it was established beyond doubt that he was dead.

Pratap, 43, whose colleagues were trying all possible ways to locate the whereabouts of the man, were left teary eyed when his brother Manish, who had flown in from Patna, recognised his body with the help of his belongings that remained uncharred.

B M Upadhyay, his colleague, said, “The body could be identified with the help of a finger ring, the cap on his tooth and a portion of the trousers containing the brand name that was readable.”

The body of the engineer, whose name had figured in the “missing or feared dead list” till Saturday, was handed over to the family members. “His body will be flown to Patna for the final rites,” Upadhyay said.

Pratap, who was employed in Cement Corporation of India, Tandur, is survived by his wife Shweta Singh and two children who are yet to complete their schooling.

“His father is a police official in their hometown. He has two brothers as well,” the colleague said.

Pratap’s brother-in-law, who was at Victoria Hospital on Saturday, failed to identify him. His brother and wife flew in from Bihar for the same.

It was a matter of luck turning bad, explained Upadhyay. The man who would never utilise leaves decided to make this trip, so as to exhaust the eight pending casual leaves.
So far, 13 bodies have been handed over, while the others await DNA confirmation.

“We will hand them over to the families on Tuesday evening. This is likely to happen within two hours after the results are out,” Railway authorities said.