On Friday morning, even hardened CRPF men broke down as the bodies of the seven-year-olds from Kolkata were pulled out of the mangled S4 coach of the GyaneshwariExpress. Their parents — schoolteachers Sayed Javed Alam, 35, and Sabiya, 30 — had saved for years the hard way to give the twins a week of happiness. They, too, died.

Twin dies

Javed and Sabiya’s bodies were recovered first, around 12.30pm. CRPF jawans, moving inch by inch into coach S4, then spotted a tiny hand, a cheek and a wisp of dark brown hair. The pace of work picked up instantly. The gas cutter sliced through twisted iron bars. A metal panel was pulled away. The first rescuer stepped in, and stood rooted in shock for a second.

The girls lay on a crumpled berth, holding each other tight, one’s head buried in the other’s chest. Shirin and Sharmin wore identical frocks, in green and yellow. They seemed asleep, but for the blood that had caked on their faces. The jawans had to pry the girls’ arms loose to remove their bodies.

The twins’ maternal grandmother Mehasar Jahan, 60, and aunt Johar Jahan, 45, are critically injured. It was the family’s first holiday together.

Javed and Sabiya were teachers at an English medium school where Johar Jahan was the principal. “Bhabi ja rahi hoon,” Sabiya had told her neighbour on 6 Abdul Ali Row on Thursday night while leaving for Howrah station. “Sabiya was excited that her twin daughters would see Mumbai. But they perished just hours into their journey. How could fate be so cruel to the family? I feel terrible. Her girls were little angels,” she said.

Shirin and Sharmin were Class II students at Jewish Girls’ School on Ripon Street.

Air India confirmed that there were 160 passengers and six crew members on board. There were 137 adults, 19 children and four infants among the passengers. Earlier reports claimed that there were 173 people on board.Air India Director Anup Srivastava said that the eight people rescued have been shifted to local hospitals in Mangalore.

“Rescue teams have been arranged. IC-171 has been sent from Mumbai to Mangalore,” said Srivastava.

Declining to comment on what would have caused the plane to overshoot the runway and crash Srivastava said, “We have a            regulation authority, we will look into what went wrong with a help of a probe. It is not prudent on my part to comment before    investigation.”

Airport Authorities of India issued a press release saying the plane crashed after overshoot the runway.

“The aircraft was following ILS Approach for landing on Runway 24 and the pilot reported to ATC that it is established on ILS approach at about 10 miles from touch down. Landing clearance was given at about four miles from touch down. Aircraft touched down the Runway 24 beyond the touch down zone, overshot the runway and went in the valley beyond the runway,” the release said

According to eyewitness account the plane crashed into a forested area and burst into flames after it overshot the runway while attempting to land. Most of the passengers on the flight were from Kerala.

“Around 160 people are feared dead in the crash. Only six to seven might have survived,” Karnataka Home Minister VS Acharya told CNN-IBN.

Mangalore Helpline Numbers: 0824-2220422, 0824-2220424

Delhi Helpline Numbers: 011-25656196, 011-25603101

Air India Express Dubai Airport Telephone Numbers: 00971-4-2165828/00971-4-2165829

Bangalore Helpline Numbers: 080-66785172/ 080-22273310.

Mumbai Helpline Numbers: 022 2279 6161.

Chennai Helpline Numbers: 044-22561365, 044-22560894

Police officials say that rescue and relief operations are on and the survivors have been admitted to the hospitals.

“Some people have been shifted to hospitals. Although if they will survive is unsure. They are being treated. This is a highly unfortunate event. The police force, bomb squad, fire force, KSRP and all the hospitals are working unitedly to help out in this situation. We are doing the best we can,” said Karnataka Western Range Inspector General of Police Gopal B Hosur.

The names of seven survivors are: Putturismail Abdulla, Joel Pratap D’Souza, GK Pradeep, Krishnan Koolikkunnu, Mayankutty KP, Ummer Farook Mohammed, Sabrina Nasrinhuq. One survivor is still unidentified.

The firefighters have reached the spot and efforts are on to rescue the survivors. It is also learnt that because of the hilly terrain, the firefighters could not reach the accident site immediately. Twenty-five ambulances have also been rushed to the spot.

The Central Industrial Security Force has sent 150 personnel to Mangalore to help in the relief and rescue operations.

Mumbai- Reliance, Vodafone, Bharti

Maharashtra- Tata, Idea, Vodafone

Gujarat- Tata, Vodafone, Idea

Andhra Pradesh- Bharti, Idea, Aircel

Karnataka- Tata,  Aircel, Bharti

Tamil Nadu- Bharti, Vodafone, Aircel

Kolkata-  Vodafone,  Aircel, Reliance

Kerala- Idea, Tata, Aircel

Punjab- Idea, Reliance, Tata, Aircel, Haryana, Idea, Tata, Vodafone

Uttar Pradesh(E)- Aircel, Idea, Vodafone

Uttar Pradesh(W)- Bharti, Idea, Tata

Rajasthan
Reliance
Bharti
Tata

Madhya
Pradesh
Idea
Reliance
Tata

West Bengal
Bharti
Reliance
Vodafone
Aircel

Himachal
Pradesh
Bharti
STel
Idea
Reliance

Bihar
STel
Bharti
Reliance
Aircel

Orissa
STel
Aircel
Reliance

Assam
Reliance
Bharti
Aircel

North East
Aircel
Bharti
Reliance

Jammu &
KashmirIdea
Aircel
Reliance
Bharti

Source:-
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