In one of the worst railway tragedies in the country, a train accident that involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train, in Odisha's Balasore late Friday has so far claimed 261 lives and injured 1000 others, according to sources.
While the rescue operation has been "completed", Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Odisha to review the situation and met the injured in the hospital. The Indian Railways has also ordered a high-level probe, according to sources.
"The rescue operation has been completed and now the focus is on restoration work," Railways Spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said, according to reports.
According to the Railway Ministry, the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express (Train No 12841) and Train No 12864 SMVB-HWH Superfast Exp (Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal- Howrah) got derailed at Bahanaga bazaar station.
Bahanaga Bazara railway station is a railway station on Kharagpur–Puri line, part of the Howrah–Chennai main line under Kharagpur railway division of South Eastern Railway zone in Balasore district in Odisha.
Immediately Accident Relief train, Self Propelled Accident Relief Medical Vans (SPARME), Accident Relief Trains (ART) were ordered from Kharagpur, Balasore & Santragachi, the Union Railway Ministry said in a release.
The injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital while minorly injured passengers were being shifted to the Balasore, Khantapara, Soro and Gopalpur Health units on priority, the Railway authorities said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Saturday and headed for Odisha to take stock of the situation.
The Prime Minister’s Office tweeted:
“PM Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to take stock of the situation in the wake of the train mishap in Odisha. Aspects relating to rescue, relief and medical attention to those affected were discussed in the review meeting.”
The Prime Minister also expressed deep grief over the loss of lives due to the train accident.
"Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw and took stock of the situation. Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected," Modi had tweeted.
Modi then announced an ex-gratia from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the victims of the train mishap.
"An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased in the train mishap in Odisha. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000: PM," the PMO tweeted.
The Railway authorities have issued Railway Helpline numbers for the information of stranded passengers. The Helpline numbers are as follows:
Howrah Helpline Number : 033-26382217
Kharagpur Helpline Number: 8972073925 & 9332392339
Balasore Helpline Number: 8249591559 & 7978418322
Shalimar Helpline Number: 9903370746
Santragachi Jn Help line Number : 8109289460, 8340649469
