EXCLUSIVE
The heartbroken mother who lost her husband and one of her twin daughters in Sunday’s horrific train tragedy will return to India with the remains of her loved ones for good.
Anand Runwal, 40, died with his two-year-old daughter Hinal after they were hit by a train as he desperately tried to save the twins when their pram rolled onto the train tracks at Carlton station in Sydney’s south.
Her other daughter, Hiya, miraculously escaped and was rescued almost unharmed from under the train.
Devastated mother Poonam Runwal, 39, will fly home to India next week after facing possible deportation from Australia within days over a visa dispute.
Close friends of the couple told Daily Mail Australia that arrangements were already being made to repatriate the bodies for a traditional funeral in Runwal’s childhood hometown of Bijapur.
“The family wants to bring Anand and Hinal home as soon as possible,” they said. “They have already started the paperwork, it is chaotic and there is a lot to do.”
“But they will leave as soon as they can so that the funeral can be held in India.”
Anand Runwal (right) and his wife Poonam Runwal with their two-year-old twin daughters
Hinal Runwal (left) died tragically in the disaster while her twin Hiya miraculously survived.
Emergency services and police inspect the scene of the train tragedy in Sydney’s south.
The Runwals were on a family outing and had just arrived at the station platform when the twin daughters’ stroller rolled onto the train tracks.
Mr Runwal heroically jumped onto the tracks in an attempt to lift the pram and place it back on the platform when he and Hinal were killed by the passing train.
New South Wales Police Superintendent Paul Dunstan said the parents apparently took their hands off the pram for “a very brief period” as it rolled onto the tracks.
Superintendent Dunstan said police were investigating what caused the pram to overturn and said it could have been something as simple as a “gust of wind”.
The Runwals, who had been together for 14 years, had become much-loved members of their local Kogarah community since moving south from Sydney in October.
Extended family members, including Ms Runwal’s sister and brother-in-law, flew to Australia from India this week to support the widow, who is now abandoning her family’s dream of a new life in Australia.
Ms Runwal is understood to be returning to Bangalore, India, after the funerals of her husband and daughter, to be close to her family as she tries to move on with her life.
“It’s been a tragedy and there are so many sad memories here for Poonam that she won’t be able to return,” a family friend said.
Supportive neighbours expressed their support for Ms Runwal to be allowed to remain in the country if she decides to stay. after Daily Mail Australia revealed that she and her daughter were facing deportation in the wake of the tragedy.
The family moved to Sydney from India in October 2023 after Mr Runwal secured a job at an IT company in North Sydney, with Ms Runwal and the girls listed as dependents on his skilled worker visa.
His visa was due to expire next week and he was in the process of renewing it. His wife’s visa was dependent on him being granted permission to stay in Australia.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed calls for the family to be allowed to remain in Australia and urged his home affairs minister to treat Ms Runwal with generosity and compassion.
“It’s obviously a decision for the Minister, but in my view, matters like this need to be dealt with with the compassion that Australians expect,” Albanese said.
“This mother has watched her husband and one of her twin sons tragically lose their lives and I would have thought that we are a generous country and that Australians’ hearts would go out to this woman and her little boy.”
The Interior Department was unable to comment on the Runwals’ visa issue.
But officials are known to be aware of the sensitive case and have been in contact with family representatives to offer appropriate assistance.
The family tragedy has sparked an outpouring of emotion, with tributes pouring in from across the country.
But despite receiving an outpouring of support, the family asked people to refrain from trying to raise funds online to support Ms Runwal.
Nadeen Ahmed, who runs the Facebook group Indians in Sydney, told Daily Mail Australia the family was extremely concerned that unscrupulous internet scammers would take advantage of the tragedy.
Harrowing CCTV footage shows the final moments of a young family before they were separated in an unimaginable tragedy when their pram rolled onto a train track.
Tributes have been left at the station for Anand Runwal and his two-year-old daughter, Hilal.
They feared that criminals might try to take advantage of the deaths by creating fake fundraising accounts designed to defraud genuine supporters.
“The family didn’t want anyone to use this tragedy to steal people’s money,” she said. “I don’t think they could stand seeing fake fundraising accounts on the Internet.”
Instead, Mr Runwal’s employer, Infosys, has been helping the family with their ongoing expenses and assisting them in taking care of all funeral arrangements.
Ms Runwal also receives additional support from Westpac, where her husband worked as an IT consultant provided by Infosys.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who lives 100 metres from the station, said the father died while carrying out an “extraordinary and instinctive act of bravery”.
“He gave his own life to try to save his children,” he said.
