At least 288 people died and nearly 900 were hurt in a terrible train derailment that happened on Friday at around 7 o'clock in Balasore, Odisha.
Odisha train crash: After a passenger train went off the rails and collided with another one in Balasore, Odisha, on Friday night, the death toll in the nation's deadliest rail tragedy in more than 20 years increased to 288. According to DGP Fire Service Sudhanshu Sarangi, over 900 people were injured. Here are the top 10 updates on the horrific train accident in Odisha:
- What went wrong: According to preliminary investigations, Coromandel Express received a signal to enter the main route, but it was overlooked causing it to enter the loop line instead, where it collided with a goods train that had been halted there.
- Railway officials stated it is still unclear if Coromandel Express entered the loop line and struck the halted goods train or if it first derailed and then hit the parked train after entering the loop line, despite earlier reports that a signalling malfunction may have caused the collision.
- Around 7 p.m. on Friday, the train collision, one of the deadliest in recent Indian history, occurred close to the Bahanaga Baazar station in the Balasore district, roughly 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik all paid a visit to the scene to assess the tragic accident.
- At roughly 8 p.m. on Saturday, Odisha government officials reported that up to 1,175 persons had been admitted to various hospitals, including private ones, of whom 793 had been released and 382 were receiving treatment.
- Some 200 ambulances and 45 mobile health teams have been deployed for rescue operations. A further 50 doctors have also been mobilised in addition to that.
- The Air Force set up MI-17 helicopters for rescue and relief missions while the Army chipped in.
- Government announces compensation: The railways have announced ex gratia payments of Rs. 10 lakh for the surviving family members of the deceased, Rs. 2 lakh for those who suffered severe injuries, and Rs. 50,000 for those who had only minor wounds. From the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, Modi has promised an additional ex gratia of 2 lakh rupees for the surviving family members of the deceased and 50,000 rupees for the injured. Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM has also announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh.
- In light of the devastating train catastrophe, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a day of state mourning and no celebrations on June 3.
- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has cancelled all national events planned for today to mark the end of the central government's nine-year term.
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 "Odisha train accident, Image source- Twitter: ANI")
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