Loco pilots of Coromandel Express battle pain and false narratives

- BHUBANESWAR

Train’s loco pilot admitted in ICU in critical state; assistant has fractured leg, disorientation; though some of the injured blame the pilots, Rail officials say they could have done little to stop collision

Hazari Behera, the 36-year-old assistant loco pilot who was helming the Coromandel Express, escaped from the jaws of death when his passenger train collided with a freight train in Odisha’s Balasore district on June 2.

Currently admitted in the privately-run AMRI hospital in Bhubaneswar, Mr. Behera is one of more than a thousand injured patients who have received care in 21 health facilities across Odisha.