On first-ever train ride, twins die in each other’s arms

KOLKATA: Little Shirin and Sharmin hardly knew who Maoists were or why they would target their train. On their first-ever vacation, all that the mirror-image twins could think about was what they would do in Mumbai, pose for pictures in identical frocks, take the ferry to Elephanta... They went to sleep hugging each other. They died that way.

On Friday morning, even hardened CRPF men broke down as the bodies of the seven-year-olds from Kolkata were pulled out of the mangled S4 coach of the Gyaneshwari Express . Their parents — schoolteachers Sayed Javed Alam, 35, and Sabiya, 30 — had saved for years the hard way to give the twins a week of happiness. They, too, died.

Javed and Sabiya’s bodies were recovered first, around 12.30pm. CRPF jawans, moving inch by inch into coach S4, then spotted a tiny hand, a cheek and a wisp of dark brown hair. The pace of work picked up instantly . The gas cutter sliced through twisted iron bars. A metal panel was pulled away. The first rescuer stepped in, and stood rooted in shock for a second.

The girls lay on a crumpled berth, holding each other tight, one’s head buried in the other’s chest. Shirin and Sharmin wore identical frocks, in green and yellow. They seemed asleep, but for the blood that had caked on their faces. The jawans had to pry the girls’ arms loose to remove their bodies.

The twins’ maternal grandmother Mehasar Jahan, 60, and aunt Johar Jahan, 45, are critically injured. It was the family’s first holiday together.

Javed and Sabiya were teachers at an English medium school where Johar Jahan was the principal. ‘‘ Bhabi ja rahi hoon,’’ Sabiya had told her neighbour on 6 Abdul Ali Row on Thursday night while leaving for Howrah station. ‘‘

Sabiya was excited that her twin daughters would see Mumbai. But they perished just hours into their journey. How could fate be so cruel to the family? I feel terrible. Her girls were little angels,’’ she said.
Shirin and Sharmin were Class II students at Jewish Girls’ School on Ripon Street.