Balasore, TNI Bureau: In what being termed as one of the worst rail disasters in Indian railway history, the Chennai-bound Coromandel express which rammed a stationery goods train derailing it, following which another passenger train from Yeshwantpura enroute to Howrah derailed after it hit the coaches scattered on the second track, killing at least 288 passengers and injuring around 803 people.
160 dead bodies are being brought to Bhubaneswar. 30/40 bodies have been identified. They will be handed over to their family members. Efforts are on to identify other bodies which are put in the morgue, confirmed Odisha Chief Secretary, Pradeep Jena. Out of the 803 injured, only 56 are critical. Other 747 have minor injuries.
Reacting swiftly to the accident, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav visited the accident site at bahanaga and expressed condolences to the grevied and assured of all assistance.
In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also rushed to the spot in the afternoon and took stock of the situation and held discussions with the senior railway officials, local authorities and NDRF and ODRF teams.
Also read: PM Modi visits Train Accident Site in Odisha; meets Injured in Hospital
The teams have concluded the rescue operations at the derailment site and have kickstarted restoration works.
Meanwhile, leaders from across the globe are expressing their condolences. Leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have expressed their deepest condolences to the families and the Government of India for the triple train crash that occurred in Odisha’s Balasore in which at least 288 people were killed.