Mumbai: The Howrah-Kurla Express was headed to Mumbai when it derailed at 1.30 on Friday morning. Anxious relatives waited for any scrap of news in Mumbai and it's been a long, traumatic wait for them, as they wait for a relief train to bring survivors back.
Jaykumar Gupta has been looking at the list of passengers again and again, hoping against hope. It's the list of those injured in the train tragedy but the names of his mother-in-law and nephew are not there.
The construction worker is among the scores of anxious relatives waiting at the Kurla station in Mumbai, the train's final destination, for some news of their families.
"I got the news at 6 in the morning and came here. I have been looking for them and really worried. Don't know what's happened," said Jaykumar Gupta, relative of passenger.
"I request you, please find my sister and nephew," said Harilal Gupta, relative of passenger.
Relatives here have been running from pillar to post trying to gather some information, hoping their loved ones are not among the dead or the injured. But it was only nine hours after tragedy struck, did railway officials come up with a new tentative list.
"Railway officials themselves are confused. My younger brother was on the train. He was coming here for an interview," said Joydeb Roy, brother of passenger.
It's been a long and traumatic wait and information from the railway's helpline is sketchy.
Even for the lucky few who have been able to touch base with relatives, it hasn't been all good news.
"I called up my brother and he told me that my daughters are still missing," said Saiful.
Most passengers on the ill-fated train were visiting Mumbai for the summer break and many others, migrants in search of work.
For some, simply came here to celebrate a family wedding. A journey of hope has now been abruptly cut short.