Indore-Patna Express Derailment: WhatsApp Being Used by Doctors to Find Kin of Survivors

Advertisement
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 21 November 2016 19:22 IST

Eight-year-old Sejal Yadav was pulled from the wreckage of a derailed train in northern India and rushed alone to hospital. Hours later she was reunited with her brother - thanks to WhatsApp.

As survivors were rescued from the mangled carriages of the Indore-Patna Express on Sunday, many - including children - became separated from their relatives as they were shunted into ambulances and taken to various hospitals in the area.

In the chaotic aftermath of the accident, which claimed at least 146 lives and left hundreds injured, doctors took to WhatsApp - sharing pictures of their patients with other hospitals in the area via the messaging app.

Advertisement

"We clicked (a photo of) every patient who came to our hospitals on our phone and immediately shared his, her name and identity on the group," A K Srivastava, a senior doctor at one of the local hospitals, told AFP.

Advertisement

"This way, if anyone from his family or acquaintances was at the other hospital looking for him, we were able to unite them swiftly," he said, scrolling through pictures of the injured on his phone.

The hospitals around Kanpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh have been flooded with dozens of victims, many severely injured and in a state of shock.

Advertisement

Yadav was one of the first children rescued from the accident site. She arrived at a government hospital in the town.

"For the initial part, she was in trauma and didn't say much but later she shared her name," a senior doctor at the hospital told AFP.

Advertisement

Her name and picture was then sent to the WhatsApp group and her name added to the survivor list, allowing her brother to track her down.

"She was with her maternal grandfather and two uncles at the time of the accident. All three of them are dead and she doesn't know this," her brother Rahul, 18, told AFP.

Rahul tried to hold back tears as he sat beside his sister's bed in the intensive care unit.

"I don't know what we can say or do after this. I hope that she recovers," he said.

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Advertisement
Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Su From So OTT Release Date is Here! Know all the Details
  2. Motorola Razr 60, Buds Loop With Swarovski Crystals Debut in India
  3. WhatsApp to Soon Let You Create, Save Stickers Without Sending Them First
  4. Vivo Launches Y500 in China With a Massive 8,200mAh Battery
  1. BCCI Says Crypto, Real Money Gaming Platforms Can’t Bid for Team India’s Title Sponsorship
  2. Scientists Discover Hidden Mantle Layer Beneath the Himalayas Challenging Century-Old Theory
  3. Astronomers Propose Rectangular Telescope to Hunt Earth-Like Planets
  4. Microsoft Testing Native Clipboard Sync Feature to Share Text Between Windows PCs, Android Devices
  5. Su From So OTT Release: When and Where to Watch This Kannada-Language Horror-Comedy Online
  6. Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless 80th Anniversary Edition Launched in India With Up to 60 Hour Battery Life
  7. Call of Duty Film Adaption Said to Be a 'Priority' at Paramount, Negotiations on to Acquire Rights
  8. Cannibal Solar Storm May Trigger Auroras as Powerful Geomagnetic Storm to Hit Earth Soon
  9. Apple's iPhone 8 Plus Listed as Vintage Product Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch, 11-Inch MacBook Air Now Obsolete
  10. Hidden Reason Behind Portugal’s Deadly Earthquakes Finally Explained
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.