35 years of mystery; Peruman tragedy

KOLLAM: Today marks 35 years since 9 bogies of the island express heading towards Thiruvananthapuram slipped the tracks to fall into the Ashtamudi lake, killing 107; the Peruman tragedy. Every year on this day, the relatives and loved ones of the victims come here and offer flowers as a mark of respect to the departed. More than 200 people were injured in the tragedy and still, many survivors push a life suffering occasional harrowing dreams of that fated afternoon in Peruman.

On 1988, July 8, the island express from Bangore was returning to Thiruvananthapuram. At 12:20 pm, near Munrothuruthu the train was moving through the Peruman bridge but slipped tracks and fell into the Ashtamudi lake. The bridge was 125m long and the train was screeching at 80km per hour. Out of the 15 bogies, 9 went into the lake. The fisherman folks near the precincts rushed with boats to the site to carry out initial rescue operations. The fire force arrived alter.

The efforts were lauded but more than 100 died with many bodies recovered only after five days time. The then railway safety commissioner Sooryanarayanan said the tragedy happened due to the cyclone which hit the bridge during the noon hours. However, the Fisherman families refuted the claims and said no such cyclone happened. Adding to the strangeness, no destructions were reported during that time from nearby areas if the cyclone claim were true. The railway, however, cared less about the locals' claims and went ahead with the report. Retired Air Force employee C S Naik later conducted a reassessment of the case and arrived at the same conclusion putting the blame on the cyclone. However, the people still believe the tragedy happened not due to the cyclone.