1000+ Workers, Relief Trains: Restoration Work On At Odisha Accident Site As Nearly 300 Killed
As many as 288 people were killed and over 1,100 injured in an accident on Friday, June 2, after an accident involving three trains.
What happened and how?
The horrific accident happened when the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, headed towards Chennai, derailed. It collided with a goods train on the adjacent track, causing the rear carriage of the Coromandel Express to veer off onto the third track. The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, coming from the opposite direction on the third track, rammed into the derailed coaches.
A preliminary report indicates that the accident was the result of signal failure, Anand said."The Coromandel Express was supposed to travel on the main line, but a signal was given for the loop line instead, and the train rammed into a goods train already parked over there. Its coaches then fell onto the tracks on either side, also derailing the Howrah Superfast Express," he said.
Rescue work underway
Dead bodies are still trapped in the mangled coaches and the rescue operation is continuing, a witness said, while the death toll is expected to rise.
The Ministry of Railways in its tweet said that the officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site.Railways also informed that more than 1,000 workers, seven Poclain machines, two accident relief trains, 3-4 railway and road cranes have been deployed for early restoration.
Video footage showed derailed train coaches and damaged tracks, with rescue teams searching the mangled carriages to pull the survivors out and rush them to hospital.
Dead bodies were lying on the bloodstained floor of a school used as a makeshift morgue, and police helped relatives identify the bodies, covered with white cloths and placed inside chained bags.
Witnesses recount horror
A witness involved in rescue operations said the screams and cries of the injured and the relatives of those killed were chilling. "It was horrific and heart-wrenching," he said.
"We rescued at least 30 people, and some of them managed to survive, but three or four of them died," said Sanjeev Rout, an electrician. A few metres away, rescue workers tried to cut their way into a damaged red-coloured coach.
Meanwhile,?Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced ex-gratia for the victims of the Balasore train tragedy. The next of the kin of the deceased will get an assistance of Rs 5 lakh and those who sustained serious injuries will get Rs 1 lakh as assistance. The assistance will be given from chief Minister¡¯s Relief Fund.
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