The deadly crash took place near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore district, around 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.
The death toll from the horrific triple train crash in Odisha on Friday evening climbed to 233 on Saturday morning. Around 900 people have been left injured in the deadliest crash in recent days. The rail accident involved two passenger trains, the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train.
Odisha Chief Secretary PK Jena informed on Saturday morning that the death toll now stands at 233. The crash took place near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore district, around 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar. It occurred around 7 pm on Friday.
As per officials, several coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express (Train no 12864) derailed on the way to Howrah and fell on adjacent tracks. The incoming Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express (Train no 12841) collided with these derailed coaches which resulted in its coaches also capsizing. Some of its coaches hit a goods train heading to Chennai.
As per Railway Spokesperson Amitabh Sharma, the Coromandel Express derailed first and 10-12 of its coaches fell on the line where Bengaluru-Howrah Express was running. Different versions of the accident could not be reconciled as of now. Those injured are being treated at various hospitals. The Air Force has also been called in to aid with the rescue ops, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said as he rushed to the spot.
115 ambulances, 50 buses and 45 mobile health units were deployed to the accident site with 1,200 personnel, as per officials in Bhubaneswar. An ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh has been announced by the railways for the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh for grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing distress over the accident, announced an additional ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
The Odisha government issued helpline 06782-262286. The railway helplines are 033-26382217 (Howrah), 8972073925 (Kharagpur), 8249591559 (Balasore) and 044- 25330952 (Chennai). 18 long-distance trains have been cancelled due to the accident, which occurred on the Howrah-Chennai main line in the Kharagpur division of the South Eastern Railway.
(Inputs from ANI, PTI)
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 "Odisha triple train crash live updates: Death toll rises to 233, around 900 injured")
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