Odisha train accident | Government revises death toll down to 275 ...

The railways has cancelled 123 trains, diverted 56, short-terminated 10 and rescheduled 14 trains due to the accident in Odisha in which 275 people were killed.

These trains include those with journey commencing from June 3 to June 7.

The cancelled trains include Sealdah-Puri Duronto, Howrah-Chennai Mail, Kanyakumari-Howrah Express, Shalimar Express, Tirupati Weekly Superfast Express, SMVT-Bengaluru Superfast Express, Santraganchi AC Superfast, Purulia-Villupuram.

The diverted trains include Tambaram-New Tinsukhia Express, New Delhi-Puri Express, Purushottam Express and Digha to Visakhapatnam Superfast Express.

Trains that have been short-terminated include Falaknuma Express, Baghajatin Express, Balasore-Bhubaneshwar Express, and Jaleswar-Puri MEMU.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that normal train services are likely to be restored by Wednesday.

- PTI

Altogether 260 people, who were injured in the triple train accident in Balasore, are currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals across Odisha, while around 900 have been discharged so far, health department officials said on Sunday.

Three Union Ministers — Ashwini Vaishnaw, Mansukh Mandaviya and Dharmendra Pradhan — visited the State-run SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack where 202 injured people have been admitted, an official of the health facility said.

“Across the state, around 900 patients, out of 1,175 injured passengers in the train accident, have been discharged. A total of 260 injured are currently undergoing treatment in different hospitals, including private ones, in Cuttack, Balasore, Bhadrak, Soro and Jajpur.

“All are stable except one whose condition is stated to be critical,” an official of the health department said.

- PTI

Rescue operations have more or less been completed after the Odisha train accident that claimed 275 lives leaving more than 1,000 injured, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said on Sunday.

Director General of NDRF Atul Karwal told ANI, “The rescue operation is more or less complete. I don’t think there is any other possibility to locate any live or dead victim in this wreckage. It has been checked a few times.”

“Our response was prompt and effective. A total of nine teams comprising around 300 rescuers are at the location right now. I think Railways will look hard at this incident,” he added.

- ANI

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday spoke to his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar and conveyed to him condolences to the families of the victims of the devastating train accident in Odisha.

In a tweet, Mr. Jaishankar, who is currently on a visit to Namibia, said such sentiments are deeply valued at this difficult time.

“Thank @SecBlinken for the phone call expressing his support and sympathy on the Odisha railway accident. Such sentiments are deeply valued at this difficult time,” the External Affairs Minister tweeted.

- PTI

The railways on Sunday said that even ticketless travellers on board the passenger trains involved in the Odisha accident will receive compensation. This is in line with a Supreme Court order, officials said.

“Irrespective of the passengers being ticketless (or not), they will receive compensation,” railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said.

Speaking to reporters, Jaya Verma Sinha, Member of Operations and Business Development of the Railway Board, said that every patient admitted in hospitals have a scout or a guide with him to help his kin to track him.

- PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday questioned the death figures given by the Ministry of Railways in the triple train crash in Odisha’s Balasore, stating that 61 people from her State were dead and 182 were still missing.

“If from one state, 182 are missing and 61 are confirmed dead, then where would the figures stand?” she asked, addressing a press conference at the State secretariat, Nabanna.

- PTI

The State government climbed down from the Saturday’s death-toll from 288 to 275 stating that few bodies were counted twice.

Briefing the media on issue of death toll, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena said, “the Indian Railway had informed the death-toll at 288 and we had also circulated the same on Saturday. Since yesterday night (Saturday), the Balasore district magistrate and his entire officers, have conducted diligent counting of each dead body again by taking bodies recovered from track, hospital and two makeshift assembly points into account. They have found that a few dead bodies have been reported twice. After weeding out those duplicates, the collector has formally informed that final death-toll is 275 instead of 288 by 10 am,” said Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena.

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Two days after one of India’s worst train accidents at Bahanaga Bazar in Odisha’s Balasore district, two railway tracks have been made fit to carry trains after bulldozers and cranes removed capsized coaches on the main trunk line connecting eastern and southern India.

The government on Sunday said both the Up and Down railway tracks at Balasore accident site have been repaired.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted that track linking Up-line has been restored and overhead electification work has also started.

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He had earlier tweeted that the down line which links Howrah has been restored.

Officials said this implies that at least one set of railway tracks were now fit for trains, but more time will be required to fix all tracks, which include loop lines, at the Balasore accident site.

- PTI

A five-member team, including a doctor, reached Odisha’s Balasore to assist those from Jharkhand, who were injured in the triple train accident there, for their treatment.

The team has so far found around 50 people from Jharkhand were injured and two killed in the train crash, an official said.

“We have got a list of around 35 people, who were injured in the accident. Apart from them, we also received information about 11 injured people, who are from our state, but their details are not found in the database here. They are being searched through various sources,” Jharkhand Labour Secretary Rajesh Kumar Sharma, who is leading the team, told PTI over the phone.

Apart from the labour secretary, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar Sinha, Dr Ajit Kumar from Ranchi’s Sadar Hospital and two others are also in the team.

They were sent to Balasore at the direction of Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

Arrangements have been made at the Railways dedicated helpline number 139 to facilitate family and relatives of deceased persons and passengers stranded in the tragic train accident in Odisha.

Ministry of Railways in a release said a team of senior officers is manning the helpline round the clock and will provide all the relevant details to the callers.

“The aim of the Railway Helpline 139 is to provide a helping hand and to give correct and satisfactory information to the aggrieved passengers and their kins in this trying time,” the release said.

Two days after the triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district that has killed nearly 300 people and left more than 1000 injured, a railway track trial is currently underway at the accident site.

Earlier, the Railway Board said that at least two railway lines are expected to be operational by 8 p.m. today as restoration work continues.

Billionaire Gautam Adani on June 4 offered to provide free school education to children who lost parents in the country’s deadliest train crash in decades, saying the train accident in Odisha was deeply disturbing.

In a tweet, Mr. Adani, who heads a conglomerate that spans ports to energy, commodities, airports and data centres, said it is a joint responsibility of all to support the victims and their families and give a better tomorrow to the children.

“We are all deeply disturbed by the train accident in Odisha. We have decided that the Adani Group will take care of the school education of the innocents who have lost their parents in this accident. It is the joint responsibility of all of us to support the victims and their families and give a better tomorrow to the children,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

More than 1,500 passengers including a large number of labourers are stranded at the Byappanahalli Railway Station due to the cancelled trains as a fallout of the train derailment in Odisha.

With a big crisis unfolding at the Byappanahalli, the labour department and the Bengaluru civic agency on June 4 arranged food, water and mobile toilets for the passengers stuck at the railway station.

On the directions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the government departments joined hands to provide basic facilities including food and water to the stranded labourers and passengers whose trains to Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and other north-eastern states have been cancelled.

Various social organisations too joined to serve the passengers stuck at the railway station.

The NCP sought to know why the measures suggested in the 2022 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report to prevent train disasters were not implemented by the Centre, and asked if this non-adherence was not enough for Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to resign in the wake of the Odisha train tragedy.

The party also alleged that as per the CAG report, train accidents were waiting to happen due to several shortcomings, but the Railway Ministry and the Minister failed to take this warning seriously.

The 2022 report on ‘Derailments in Indian Railways’ highlighted multiple shortcomings. It revealed 24 factors responsible for derailments. There are many points of serious nature in that report that point out the fact that train accidents were waiting to happen, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said in a statement.

Calling the triple train accident in Balasore on June 2 that has killed nearly 300 people a “very unfortunate incident”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the State is “fully supporting the Odisha government.”

“The day it happened, we sent 150 ambulances, 50 doctors, nurses, buses and disaster management teams to the accident site,” she said.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reached Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack in Odisha to meet the victims of the triple train accident.

“Those injured in the Balasore train accident are receiving medical treatment in 5-6 hospitals in the state. All agencies including the State government, local administration met today to ensure proper treatment for the injured persons”, he said.

The Health Minister was accompanied by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw & Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The two-day meeting of the StartUp20 Engagement Group, part of India’s G20 presidency, culminated in Goa on June 4 with delegates expressing solidarity with victims of the Odisha train accident.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the StartUp20 Engagement Group meeting in Goa, Ashish Sinha, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of External Affairs, said the meeting took place in a “sombre environment because of the train accident on Friday.”

“All the delegations expressed condolences to the victims, their families and also wished a speedy recovery to the injured people,” he said.

“There was a consensus over the cancellation of cultural programmes. There was a consensus that in our thoughts and prayers, we should be with the victims and also those who are struggling,” Mr. Sinha said.

Odisha Police appealed to all sections to desist from circulating rumours giving a communal colour to Balasore’s triple train accident.

The Odisha police also warned that severe legal action will be initiated against those found trying to create communal disharmony by spreading any rumour.

Taking to twitter, the Odisha police said: “It has come to notice that some social media handles are mischievously giving a communal colour to the tragic train accident at Balasore. This is highly unfortunate.”

It added, ”We appeal to all concerned to desist from circulating such false and ill-motivated posts. Severe legal action will be initiated against those who are trying to create communal disharmony by spreading rumours.”

In the wake of the Odisha rail tragedy, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy flagging off trains while not paying attention to railway safety.

He called for fixing accountability of all posts from top to bottom to prevent such incidents in future.

In a series of tweets, Mr. Kharge posed questions to the Modi government and alleged that “PR gimmicks” have made the working system of the dispensation “hollow”.

Noting that three lakh posts are vacant in Railways, he said posts at high levels whose recruitment is through the Prime Minister’s Office are also lying vacant. He asked why these posts were not filled in the last nine years.

Mr. Kharge claimed that the Principal Chief Operating Manager of South Western Railway Zone sought repair of the signalling system on February 8, 2023, citing an incident in Mysuru in which two trains averted a collision. “Why did the Ministry of Railways not act on it,” he asked.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the Odisha train tragedy.

“Tragic news of the train crash in India. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. My thoughts are with the survivors and emergency services,” said Mr. Cleverly.

Lord Tariq Ahmad, the U.K. Foreign Office Minister for South Asia who has just returned from a visit to India, also took to social media over the weekend to express his solidarity.

“Distressing scenes and reports from #OdishaTrainAccident in #India which has already claimed the lives of close to 300 people and with many injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted as well as the emergency teams working on this tragic accident,” tweeted Lord Ahmad.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on June 4 took a review meeting with senior doctors and officials of AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar, where they discussed medical attention for those injured in the Odisha train accident.

They also discussed the procedures regarding embalming of bodies of the deceased and subsequently handing them over to respective family members.

Mr. Mandaviya informed that a medical team, comprising experts, from Delhi has reached Bhubaneswar to provide critical care.

“More than 1,000 people are injured in this terrible accident and their treatment is underway. Over 100 patients need critical care and for their treatment, expert doctors from Delhi AIIMS, Lady Hardinge Hospital and RML Hospital along with modern equipment and medicines have reached here,” he said, adding, they had a detailed discussion and a working plan has also been prepared.

The Railways on June 4 said the Coromandel Express was “not over-speeding” and received the green signal to enter a loop line on which a goods train was stationary, virtually clearing its driver of any role behind the accident.

Two key officials of the Railway Board -- Principal Executive Director of Signalling Sandeep Mathur and Member of Operation and Business Development Jaya Varma Sinha -- explained how the accident might have occurred.

Ms. Sinha said the direction, route and signal were set for the Coromandel Express.

“Green signal means that in every way the driver knows that his path ahead is clear and he can go forward with his permitted maximum speed. The permitted speed at this section was 130 kmph and he was running his train at 128 kmph which we have confirmed from loco logs,” she said.

“In both the trains, there was no question of over-speeding. Preliminary finding has found that there is a signalling issue,” Ms. Sinha said.

“Only one train was involved in the accident, it was the Coromandel Express. The Coromandel Express crashed with the goods train and its coaches went on top of the goods train. It was an iron ore-laden train, a heavy train, therefore the entire impact of the collision was on the train,” she said.

Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu on June 4 expressed grief over the Balasore train accident and said that till all the passengers are sent home safely, three Union Ministers including Railway Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw will be camping in Odisha.

“I had heard of minor train derailments or incidents but the way all three trains met with an accident, it was unfortunate and unexpected,” Union Minister Tudu told ANI.

“We (Railway Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw and Dharmendra Pradhan) will remain in Balasore until all the passengers are brought back to their homes safe and sound and all the dead bodies are not handed over to their relatives,” he said.

The whereabouts of eight passengers, including two women, who were onboard the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express still not known, the Tamil Nadu government said on June 4.

The eight passengers — Naraganigobi (Male, 34 years old), Karthik (M, 19), Raghunath (M, 21), Meena (F, 66), Jagadeesan (M, 47), Kamal (M, 26), Kalpana (F, 19) and Arun (M, 21) “could not be contacted”, an official release said and further appealed to their friends and relatives to provide their details, if any, to the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) in Chennai at 1070 or 9445869843.

The contact numbers or address of these eight were not available for authorities. The team from the Tamil Nadu government camping in Odisha, the SEOC under the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, are coordinating to locate these eight passengers.

A senior Bangladeshi diplomat, Sheikh Marefat Ali Islam visited Soro Hospital in Odisha’s Balasore district to provide consular assistance to Bangladeshi passengers injured in the triple train crash.

Mr. Islam told PTI that few Bangladeshi passengers were recuperating in different hospitals in Odisha but there was no news of death of any citizen of that country in the crash.

“One Bangladeshi passenger admitted at a Bhadrak hospital was discharged after treatment. Another has been referred to SCB Medical College in Cuttack. On Saturday, I had visited a Balasore hospital,” he said.

“If there’s any information on injured Bangladeshi patients, please dial our deputy high commission at Kolkata - 9038353533,” Marefat, second Secretary in the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission which looks after eastern India, added.

“Several unclaimed bodies are lying in a few hospitals in Bhubaneswar. We will have to find out if there are any Bangladeshis among them,” he added.

He thanked the Odisha government for providing support in tracing the injured and dead Bangladeshi citizens in various hospitals.

Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav has accused the Railways of negligence that caused the triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore in which more than 280 people have lost their lives and close to 1000 people are injured.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Yadav said that the “Railways claim that safety is their priority but even after such a major accident, responsibility has not been fixed yet. Action should be taken against those responsible.”

The Railway Board on June 4 citing premiliary investigation said there was some issue with the signalling and only Coromandel Express met with an accident in Balasore.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Jaya Varma Sinha, Member of Operation and Business Development, Railway Board said, “According to the preliminary findings, there has been some issue with the signalling. We are still waiting for the detailed report from the Commissioner of Railway Safety. Only Coromandal Express met with an accident. The train was at a speed of around 128 km/h.”

In a major breakthrough in the tragic accident, she said that the goods train did not get derailed since it was carrying iron ores and had maximum damage on Coromandel Express.

With restoration work underway, at least two railway lines are expected to be operational by 8 p.m. today at the site. We expect that trains will start running at a low speed. Inquiry is underway, we are investigating all angles. Prima facie it appears to be an issue of signalling, but we cannot authenticate anything as of now: Jaya Varma Sinha, Member of Operation and Business Development, Railway Board said on June 4.

Ms. Sinha also said that the Ministry of Home Affairs is assisting them and not the NIA.

Thirty-six hours after one of the deadliest train accidents snapped close to 300 lives in Odisha’s Balasore district, relatives continued to search their near and dear ones for putrid bodies at accident sites on Sunday.

Five mutilated bodies were retrieved from under the debris of coaches of Coromandel Express 12841 Coromandel Express (Shalimar-Madras) and 12864 Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express, which were being cleared for restoration works.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced free bus services to Kolkata in the wake of the triple train tragedy in Balasore that claimed 288 lives.

”Keeping in view the greater benefit of the commuters CM Naveen Patnaik has announced free bus service to Kolkata from Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack from today,” the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Odisha said. -ANI

A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a probe into the triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore by an expert panel headed by a retired judge of the apex court.

The Balasore train accident where two passenger trains and a goods carriage were involved claimed 288 lives so far while over 1,000 people sustained injuries. The PIL also sought guidelines and directions for the implementation of the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System called KAVACH Protection System in Indian Railways with immediate effect to ensure public safety.’ - ANI

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone and briefed him about the latest train accident situation, particularly the treatment of injured passengers.

Noting that doctors, medical students and other health care service providers are doing their best, Mr. Patnaik told the Prime Minister that all possible steps have been taken to save the lives of injured passengers in different hospitals of Odisha.

An on-leave NDRF jawan travelling on the Coromandel Express was perhaps the first person to alert emergency services about the train’s accident in Odisha’s Balasore before he joined initial rescue efforts, officials said.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) jawan Venkatesh. N.K. was on leave and travelling from Howrah in West Bengal to Tamil Nadu. He had a narrow escape as his coach B-7, though derailed did not collide with coaches ahead of it, the officials said. He was in a third AC coach and his seat number was 58.

The 39-year-old constable, posted with the NDRF’s 2nd battalion in Kolkata, first called his senior inspector in the battalion to inform him about the accident. He then sent some pictures and the “live location” of the site on WhatsApp to the NDRF control room, and this was used by the first rescue teams to reach the spot, they said.

“I felt a massive jolt...and then I saw some passengers in my coach falling down. I brought the first passenger out and seated him in a shop near the railway track...I then rushed to help others,” Mr. Venkatesh told PTI from onboard a relief train that was taking him to Chennai.

As many as 137 survivors of the train accident in Odisha arrived here on Sunday by a special train from Bhadrak, authorities said.

Following screening procedure, medical examination was conducted for 36 passengers and three of them were admitted as in-patients at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here. All others were sent home following treatment for minor injuries, an official release said. -PTI

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday attacked the government over the railway tragedy in Odisha, and said one minister cannot deal with large ministries such as Railways as well as Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, as was being done by Ashwini Vaishnaw.

A help desk has been set up at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation on Sunday to provide assistance to train accident victims in Odisha’s Balasore. The help desk has been set up at BMC-ICOMC tower, Satya Nagar Bhubaneswar to facilitate family, friends, and relatives of deceased people and people stranded in the tragic train accident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take stock of the progress of the restoration work at Balasore triple train accident site, Railway Ministry sources informed.

Notably, Mr. Vaishnaw is present at the accident site and taking an overview of the restoration work. -ANI

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased in the train derailment in Balasore from CM’s Relief Fund.” The next of kin of the deceased will get the assistance of ₹5 lakh and those who sustained serious injuries will get ₹1 lakh as assistance,” the Office of the Chief Minister (CMO) Odisha said.

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Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who reviewed the restoration work at the Balasore triple train collision site on Sunday, said that the accident that claimed the lives of 288 passengers happened due to a change in electronic interlocking.

Ashwini Vaishnaw while speaking to ANI said that the commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it. “The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it... It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking,” Mr. Vaishnaw told ANI.

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Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Geeta Singh informed that 100 out of the 160 unidentified bodies of passengers of the Odisha triple train accident will be kept in AIIMS Bhubaneshwar.

The DCP said the remaining bodies will be kept in the mortuaries of various hospitals and medical colleges in Bhubaneswar. -ANI

A special train from Balasore carrying passengers affected by the horrific accident and derailment on Friday, arrived in Chennai in the wee hours of Sunday, informed officials.

Tamil Nadu’s minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ma Subramanian’ and Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, KKSSR Ramachandran were present at Chennai’s MGR Central Railway Station to receive the passengers at Chennai’s MGR Central Railway Station. -ANI

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed sadness at the loss of lives in the tragic train accident in Odisha that has killed over 280 people and injured hundreds more.

“The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the loss of life and injury in a train accident in Odisha, India,” a statement issued by the spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said on Saturday.

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U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday said he is heartbroken by the tragic news of a train crash in India that has killed nearly 300 people.

“(First Lady Dr) Jill (Biden) and I are heartbroken by the tragic news of the deadly train crash in India. Our prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones and the many who suffered injuries in this terrible incident,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. -PTI

A team of doctors and experts from the AIIMS here and other central hospitals of Delhi have been rushed to Bhubaneswar through a special IAF flight to provide medical assistance to those injured in the deadly Odisha train accident, official sources said on Sunday.

The team is carrying medicines and heavy critical care equipment, the sources said.

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