After 25 years, Kadalundi recounts the memories of the railway tragedy

Veteran journalist A. Sajeevan commemorating the Kadalundi rail disaster on its 25th anniversary in Kadalundi on Monday. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

A quarter of a century after one of Kerala’s worst rail disasters, the people of Kadalundi came together on Monday (June 22) not just to remember the dead, but to remember the tragedy that continues to define the village.

In a small coastal village on the Kozhikode-Malappuram border where the Kadalundipuzha flows into the Arabian Sea, survivors, bereaved families, rescue workers and residents gathered to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Kadalundi rail disaster. For many, it was not so much a memorial meeting as a meeting of memories.

Those who lost loved ones sat next to those who escaped death. Fishermen who pulled passengers from the river recalled the frantic hours after the accident. Survivors retraced the moments they carried with them for 25 years.

Kadalundi panchayat president O. Bhakthavalsalan inaugurated the memorial programme. Veteran journalist A. Sajeevan delivered the memorial speech. On June 22, 2001, a monsoon Friday evening, the Mangaluru-Chennai mail crossed Kadalundi station and rolled onto the railway bridge over the river. A few seconds later, disaster struck.

As the train moved across the bridge at about 50 km/h, the girders at its southern end gave way. Six carriages plunged into the river below us and what turned out to be one of the country’s most devastating rail accidents. Fifty-two people were killed and nearly 300 were injured.

The screams of the passengers echoed across the river as residents rushed to the bridge. Sand miners working nearby and fishermen from Chaliyam launched their boats into the water within minutes and became the first responders long before organized rescue teams arrived. They were later joined by khalasis from Beypore, firemen and policemen.

Rescue work continued at night. The wedged passengers were pulled from the twisted carriages after rescuers smashed the window bars with a crowbar and cut through the metal with gas cutters.

The images that followed became part of Kerala’s collective memory. Hospitals in Kozhikode and Malappuram were crowded with anxious relatives searching for family members. Many victims were difficult to identify.

Among the haunting memories of the disaster is the unidentified hand sticking out of the window of the partially submerged bus. Visible above the water on a changing tide until rescuers cut the carriage open the next day, the image remains etched in the minds of residents.

After 25 years, the disaster still raises questions. Railroad authorities never conclusively determined what caused the bridge to fail. Competing theories have emerged over the years, but no explanation has fully solved the mystery.

But for Kadalundi, the disaster is more than an unsolved investigation. It is a shared memory that continues to bind the village together. As survivors, first responders and victims’ families reunited Monday, the tragedy felt less like a chapter in history and more like a story still being lived.

Published – 22 Jun 2026 23:24 IST