I jumped out of the train fearing for my life and saw people crammed into the compartment toilet," recalled Rahman, one of the passengers who survived the crash.
Lakshman T Basapur, a new recruit of the railway department, was travelling in S-7 bogie along with his brother Venkappa to report for work on the first, said: "I was sleeping on the upper berth and there was a huge jerk.
I fell on the floor of the train and realised it had met with an accident killing passengers travelling in the general compartment bogie just behind the locomotive.
[8] Safety engineers, who were part of the rescue special that steamed in from Bangalore to Penukonda in the wake of the accident, said the loss of lives could have been avoided if only the loco pilot had been alert.
Ratnam, a loco pilot with the South Central Railway's Guntakal zone, and co-pilot Balaraju escaped, probably because they jumped out of the train immediately after applying the emergency brake.
Speaking to The Hindu, the guard of the Hampi Express, Bhagwan, said he had no clue that the train had actually jumped a danger signal that denied entry into Penukonda station.
They denied any possibility of the driver having been under the influence of alcohol, as all pilots were subjected to a breathalyser test and that unless they passed it, they would not be allowed for duty.
[9] A day after the crash, The public relations officer (PRO) of Indian Railways, Anil Saxena, said that rescue operations at the train collision site at Penukonda in Andhra Pradesh is almost over with most passengers being sent to their respective destinations safely.