The three-train pile-up in Odisha's Balasore on Friday was one of the worst in the country.
An injured, unconscious man in the three-train collision in Odisha, was mistakenly put in a truck with dead bodies to be shifted to a morgue when he regained consciousness. Biswajit Malik managed to signal to the rescuers after which he was taken to a local hospital, his father Helaram Malik told NDTV in Kolkata.
The 24-year-old was grievously injured, but had managed to come out of mangled coach on his own. He had fainted while trying to crawl away from the rail tracks. The rescue workers took him for dead and dumped him in a truck with other bodies.
He regained consciousness while in the truck and managed to catch the attention of the rescuers, said his father, who works as an ironmonger in Kolkata.
"He called us after somehow leaving the train by himself. But once he saw the condition of his arm and the bleeding, he passed out. When he came to, he saw he was lying under a pile of eight or 10 corpses. He had injured his right arm, but his left arm was okay. So he started waving and caught the attention of the rescue personnel," Mr Malik said.
"He was then sent to the Gopalpur hospital, and not the morgue," added the man, who transported his son to Kolkata by car from Gopalpur. The hospital authorities had not only refused to release his son, but also refused to provide them with an ambulance.
The doctors at the SSKM hospital, where Biswajit Malik is currently admitted, have said his arm has been mangled and his leg is also injured.
The three-train pile-up in Odisha's Balasore on Friday was one of the worst in the country and claimed more than 270 lives. More than 1,170 people were injured.
The Railways had said due to a "signalling interference", the Coromandel Express met with an accident and its engine and coach crashed into a goods train laden with iron ore stationed on one of the loop lines.
The coaches of the Coromandel Express also got thrown into the third track and rammed the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express that was approaching at a high speed, the railways said.
The Railways ministry has recommendation a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. It has been bitterly criticized by Opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress, which called it an attempt at a cover-up.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the "root cause and the people responsible for the criminal act" have been identified. "The setting of the point machine was changed. How and why it was done will be revealed in the probe report," he has said.