Calcutta Archbishop: Train crash revealed interfaith friendship

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

In the wake of a railway crash between a goods and passenger train in West Bengal, India on Monday, Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of Calcutta (District of Kolkata), India, spoke to Vatican News, about the disaster and its implications.

In the interview, not only did the Indian prelate mourn those lost and offer words of comfort and prayers to those grieving, but he also observed that amid great suffering, the Indian people united together to help those in need.

According to authorities, fifteen bodies were pulled from the mangled carriages at the site of the wreck and more than 50 other people were injured.

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First of all, our condolences for the lives lost in this tragedy. How are people doing after this horrific incident? Clearly it was a shock.

Well, the accident took place Monday about nine in the morning. The train that was coming from the northeastern state of Agartala, the capital, and was coming down to Sealdah in Kolkata. All of a sudden everybody felt a jolt, was thrown off, and the bogies went off the track. What had happened was a goods train from the rear came and banged into the passenger train. More than 10 died, and dozens were injured and taken to hospitals.

They say it was human error. That's what the papers say. This is the official version. The drivers of that goods train were among those who died, along with, I believe, the guard of the passenger train. Hence, several lives were lost, as well, among the railway workers. 

This is a terrible tragedy, but the villagers came running. This happened during Bakrid, a big feast for the Muslims, who therefore, were busy with namaz (Islamic prayer) in the morning. However, when they heard this bang, and the news went round, they shortened their prayers and rushed to the spot. We were told even before the official railway rescuers arrived at the spot, that these villagers were helping people to get out or even to drag out or remove bodies from the site. They were offering whatever help was needed. It can be such a chaos. 

By the time people came and so on, a big crowd gathered and they were organizing this. And then, of course, the Minister from Delhi, our own Chief Minister from Kolkata, the Chief Minister of West Bengal all came, visiting the site and offering consolation. 

This certainly has been a tragedy. Our trains are crowded, and when something like this happens, many can get injured. 

Does this raise concerns about safety? We remember the terrible accident last year in June 2023, involving three trains in the eastern state of Odisha, killed about 300 people and left more than 1,000 others injured. Is there a certain ethical responsibility needed to ensure the safety of the Indian people when they're taking transportation?

Very true. Last year's accident was terrible. Of course, it was much more serious than this one because there were two passenger trains involved and some 300 people had lost their lives. The official figures were varying, but quite a huge number died. Certainly, it is disturbing that something like this could happen again. People pay with their lives in these tragedies. In fact, I was very sad to hear that one gentleman killed had just joined duty for the first time, after a short vacation until Sunday. It had been his first day. Reflecting on that, itself, you can imagine how sad it was for him and his family. Sadly, there are many stories similar to this one, but, regardless, the goodness of people is evident in their helping one another. They are not conserving their own advantage or their own difficulty, but rather rising to the occasion and helping one another. This is the beauty of human society where people come together to help one another. And this was very much visible, especially at the site of the train accident.

Train collision in India's West Bengal state

Indeed. Do you have a message of prayer or consolation that you would like to offer?

First of all, I appreciate your contacting me and also offering condolences. Certainly, they reach our people. We pray for all those who have lost their lives. We ask our Heavenly Father to grant them eternal rest and eternal life and eternal peace, that is His everlasting gift to them and to all those injured. We wish all a speedy recovery. There many families affected by this and our prayers and sincere condolences go out to them. We pray that they can resume a normal life as soon as possible.

The trauma of the accident will take a long time to disappear from the people's memory. But we pray. We pray. This is where prayer comes in. . Our condolences to all those who lost their lives and their families, and prayers for recovery for those wounded. We thank you for your own concern for us. We are so far from where you are, but we are all the human family and are all together. What happens in one corner of the world affects others. We are all related that way, and this was beautiful, your gesture of concern and thoughtfulness, and I want to thank you.