India train disaster: Relatives in desperate search for missing loved ones

Relatives of the victims of Friday’s deadly three-train crash in India have spoken of their continuing, desperate efforts to find their loved ones.

One woman looking for her adult son told the BBC she had travelled for 30 hours to the crash site, searching hospitals and morgues on the way.

Officials said on Saturday that their rescue mission in Odisha had ended – but one eyewitness said he had seen a survivor retrieved the next morning.

The latest death toll stands at 275.

A signalling fault is emerging as the likely cause of the disaster – India’s worst rail accident for decades.

Lilavati Devi broke down as she told the BBC on Sunday that that she was still looking for her son, although other eight members of her family who were on one of the trains had been located.

“I pray that we find him somewhere – one way or another,” she said. “There’s nothing more I want. May God keep my son safe.”

Her son Raja Sahani, 22, was travelling along with relatives from their hometown in the north-eastern state of Bihar to the affluent southern city of Bangalore – where they work odd jobs as daily wagers.

Travel involves changing trains in the city of Howrah, which is where they boarded the ill-fated train. Raja sent a photo of himself there.

Hours after he departed, Lilavati got a call from another family member saying there had been an accident. She tried Raja’s phone repeatedly after that, but it was switched off.

Her search had yielded nothing so far, she said. They spent 45,000 rupees (£438) hiring a car to make the journey – a cost well beyond their means.

“I have even looked in all hospitals and morgues here, but can’t find him”, she said. “We asked the morgues to show photos of all the dead bodies over and over. But he’s not there.”

Odisha state official Pradeep Jena told the BBC that at least 187 bodies remained unidentified.

Officials were uploading pictures of the victims on government websites and would carry out DNA testing if needed, he said.

“It’s a real challenge for us,” he said.

Others, too, have been shuttling between the different temporary centres, looking at photos and hoping to get some news.

Vishwanath Sahni told the AFP news agency that he was still looking for his 26-year-old son, who had been on his way to Chennai when the disaster occurred.

“I don’t know if I’ll find my son,” he said, while waiting at a morgue – having enquired at every hospital he was able to.

Despite railway officials saying on Saturday that all trapped and injured people at the site had been rescued, search efforts appear to have continued at the crash site.

Journalist and author Sandeep Sahu told the BBC of a “miraculous” discovery on Sunday morning, when an injured survivor was pulled from the mangled wreckage and then rushed to hospital.

He said dead bodies, too, were still being found – and that he had seen five of these taken from the scene, 36 hours after the accident.

These were placed in a nearby school that has been used as a temporary morgue.

There was a “horrifying” moment when one of the victims’ mobile phones rang, he said – “but there was nobody to respond to the call.”