Scattered notebooks, crushed school bags, tiffin boxes, and identity cards were all that remained after a devastating collision between a school van and a passenger train near Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. Among the victims were siblings T. Charumathy (Class 11) and T. Chezhiyan (Class 10), whose dreams of becoming a doctor and an IAS officer died with them.
Their parents, Dravida Mani and Kalaiselvi, both daily wage labourers and farmers, had sacrificed much to send their children to an English-medium school. On Tuesday morning, Mani had dropped the children at the bus stop and headed to work — unaware that within half an hour, he would receive a call that would forever change his life.
Charumathy died at the scene, while Chezhiyan succumbed to head injuries later at the Cuddalore Government Hospital. “He wanted to become a bureaucrat. He was so focused,” said their uncle Murugan, weeping.
Eyewitnesses told the grieving family that the railway gate was left open, and the van driver was not to blame. The children’s grandmother struggled to speak through her tears, saying, “They went to school like every other day. We never imagined they’d return like this.”
Another grieving father, who lost his son Nimalesh, said his elder child survived with fractures. “This happened because of the gatekeeper’s negligence,” he said.
Survivor Viskesh confirmed, “The gate was open. We never even heard the train coming.”