In a train accident near Kanpur 100 people were killed in their sleep and nearly 200 injured.
Trapped in the worst-hit S1 coach of the derailed Indore-Patna Express for over 10 hours before being rescued, businessman Arun Sharma's journey to Patna by the train turned into a nightmare with his nine-year-old son missing.
Mr Sharma, 42, along with his wife and another son, 11-year-old Gigyansh were injured in the mishap, while their other son Triyansh is yet to traced.
Mr Sharma was travelling from Bhopal to Patna to attend his friend's wedding on November 21 when the train derailed near Pukhrayan in Kanpur rural district.
The family, like most of the other passengers, were deep asleep when they were jolted as the train jumped off the tracks with such force that two coaches, S1 and S2, telescoped into each other.
Two other sleeper coaches - S3 and S4- were also badly damaged in the mishap and accounted for most of the over 100 causalities in the accident.
"We were all sleeping in the S1 coach when around 0300 hrs we were jolted by the shock and we all fell on the floor," said Mr Sharma, who suffered multiple fractures in his hands and is receiving treatment at the Mati government hospital here, 35 kms from the site of the accident.
"I was rescued from the mangled remains of the bogie by the army men at 1 pm, almost 10 hours after the accident," he said.
His wife, Nupur, also suffered fractures in hands and is receiving treatment at the same hospital where over 70 injured patients have been admitted.
However, the family is extremely worried about their son, Triyansh, who has not been traced yet.
"We are trying to search their son in other hospitals where the injured had been admitted," said Archana, a senior doctor at the hospital.
Many injured passengers have also been admitted at the Ursla and Hallat hospitals in Kanpur Urban district.
At every hospital, there are bereaved families and stories of loss and despair, minor children looking for their parents, and mothers looking for their children.
Several passengers were still feared trapped inside the mangled bogies of the train and the death toll was expected to rise.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and a host of other leaders have condoled the loss of lives in the train tragedy.