Fellow travellers and villagers of Palahalli may have helped keep the death toll down after the 231 Mysore-Bangalore derailed near Mysore on Thursday. They moved quickly to rescue their trapped and shocked fellow passengers.

Passengers had a common grouse: the railways and police were slow to react. Many thanked the Almighty for their survival.

There were heart-wrenching scenes at the site. One witness Nanjappa recalled a woman calling for her children, worry writ large on her face, before succumbing to her injuries seconds later.

Three of the four who lost their lives were teachers.

Four of the derailed bogies ran for 200 metres, a witness account corroborated by South Western Railway's Additional Divisional Manager Vijay Agrawal.