On board 13174: A loud bang, and what followed

A train collision near New Jalpaiguri has left 9 dead and 41 injured. Villagers were first responders, helping in the rescue efforts.

Siliguri: As the green fields of North Bengal trundled past, Kisan Chhettri, a young man in his twenties, was whiling away time, absent-mindedly playing a game on his mobile phone. There was much to contemplate — Chhetri, from Shillong, was on his way to Sealdah in West Bengal, in search for employment. The train, the Kanchanjunga Express, which over a day-and-a-half cuts through India’s chicken neck in the east, beginning from Agartala and ending in Sealdah, was moving slowly, aiding a post-morning lethargy.

Rescue operation underway at the accident site in Darjeeling on Monday. (ANI)