Balasore train mishap: Death toll rises to 288, Odisha declares state mourning
BALASORE (ODISHA): The death toll in the terrible train accident that occurred on Friday evening near Bahanaga railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district rose to 288 on Saturday with many of the passengers succumbing to their injuries.
Over 900 passengers have been injured, many of them critically, in the devastating mishap. The injured are undergoing treatment in different government and private hospitals in Soro, Balasore and Cuttack.
Odisha chief secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, while confirming the death number, said rescue operations were in full swing.
The terrible mishap occurred at around 7 pm on Friday when 10-12 coaches of Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed near Bahanaga and infringed the opposite track and, after minutes, the Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express rammed into those derailed coaches, causing a terrible crash.
“Death toll rises to 233 in the Balasore train accident,” tweeted the chief secretary.
The Odisha government announced a one-day state mourning to pay homage to the departed souls. The Tamil Nadu government also declared a one-day state morning.
Air Force personnel, two teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and four teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been engaged in the relief and rescue operation.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reached the accident site on Saturday morning and reviewed the relief and rescue operation. He thanked the rescue personnel for accomplishing the daunting task of rescuing the passengers under and inside the mangled coaches and getting the injured admitted to hospitals.
At around 8.41 am, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik reached the spot and held discussions with the railway minister with regard to the relief and rescue operations.
Amid the gloom and shadow, a large number of volunteers were on Friday night seen queuing up at various hospitals in Balsore to donate blood for the injured passengers. Nearly 500 units of blood were collected last night.
“It’s a terrible tragedy. I pay my honour to the departed souls. We have mobilized relief and rescue teams from West Bengal, Tata Nagar and Bhubaneswar. Now, our focus is on relief and rescue operations. We are also trying to ensure that the relatives of the injured and slain passengers get information as early as possible. Efforts for restoration of the track have also begun,” says railway Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The scenes at various hospitals in Soro and Balasore were quite shocking as family members and relatives were seen weeping inconsolably.
