Anwar Akrouh from Roosendaal has had a day full of emotions. The twenty-something was on Tuesday morning in the train that derailed between Leiden and The Hague. The driver of a crane who was hit by the passenger train and a freight train was killed. Anwar, who studies in Leiden, escaped unhurt. When he came home later that day, he had to recover. “I am still shaking.”
Anwar Akrouh was on the train with about 50 people on the night from Monday to Tuesday. At half past three he heard a loud bang. After that everything changed.
“I was suddenly shaken on my couch and it got dark. All I saw were sparks of light. I immediately started helping people,” he told Omroep West.
“I was afraid the train would explode.”
According to the former student of the Norbertus College and the Norbertus Gertrudis Lyceum in Roosendaal, it was one big chaos on the train. “You heard people screaming. The only thing I thought: ‘We need to get off the train as soon as possible before anything else happens.’ I was afraid the train would explode, so I wanted to get out as soon as possible.”
“Thank God there was no fire in the train itself,” Anwar told Radio 1. “Meanwhile I had a very sweet 112-year-old woman on the phone. I spoke to him for half an hour. In the meantime I tried to help everyone.”
“His legs had become like spaghetti strands.”
This is how Anwar ended up with a man who was trapped. “He didn’t speak Dutch, but it quickly became clear to me that he was injured. He was stuck and his legs had become like spaghetti strands. I tried to help him as best I could.”
Anwar then continued walking through the train. “I suddenly heard noise coming from somewhere and I was scared to death. I thought, ‘Whoa, the driver’s still on the train and can’t get off.’ He was locked up and was approachable, but was unfortunately injured. I’ve seen the engineer’s cab. It was horrible. I don’t know how that gentleman survived, but he had an angel on his shoulder.”
In the meantime, local residents had also taken action. “They supported us. I am very grateful that I could sit inside with them. Nice and warm, because I no longer had a coat and it was super cold outside.”
“You figure it out yourself, couldn’t it be better?”
Anwar was taken away by bus with other passengers who were not injured. He has questions about that. “We got off at The Hague and then it was: you figure it out yourself. I live in The Hague, but there are people who have suffered trauma as a result and then had to catch a train. Couldn’t it be better?”
Anwar came home Tuesday afternoon. “I had to shed a tear in bed when I heard someone died. I canceled everything today. I’m still shaking, but I know people were more intense.”