Voice of Commonwealth

 What really happened on the Odisha Train?

Share

India (Commonwealth Union)_ The tragic incident that happened in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday night involved a horrific collision between three trains, making it one of the most devastating accidents in the country. Shockingly, the tragedy resulted in a staggering death toll of around 300 people, with over a thousand others sustaining injuries. Many of the injured are currently battling for their lives in various hospitals across Odisha. Following the tragedy, officials and the investigation team rushed to the scene and confirmed that the accident involved three trains: the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, the SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, and a goods train. These trains were on separate tracks near the Bahanaga Railway crossing.

Odisha tv.in,

The accident unfolded in the following manner: The Coromandel Express, en route to Chennai from Shalimar, departed from Balasore Railway Station at 6:50 pm on Friday, June 2. Just ten minutes later, it reached the Bahanaga Bazar Railway level crossing. The train was initially on Track No. 1 and was supposed to switch to Track No. 2 near the railway gate. But, owing to a technical fault, the train was unable to swap tracks and hence continued traveling on Track No. 1 and collided with a stationary good train on the same track. The impact of the collision caused 10-12 coaches of the Coromandel Express to derail and fall onto Track No. 3. Subsequently, the SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, traveling from Bengaluru to Kolkata in Track No. 3, collided with the derailed coaches of the Coromandel Express, resulting in the derailment of at least five of its own coaches.

Officials also reported that many individuals were trapped inside the derailed coaches and that the number of casualties is expected to rise. According to Railway Ministry spokesperson Amitabh Sharma, several coaches from the Coromandel Express, which was traveling from Howrah to Chennai, derailed and fell onto the next tracks. The Yashwantpur-Howrah Superfast Express train, approaching from the opposite direction, collided with the derailed coaches. The trains involved in the accident were identified as the 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and the 12864 Yashwantpur-Howrah Superfast Express. Further, fifteen coaches of the Coromandel Express derailed, while two coaches of the other train also derailed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his distress over the train accident in Odisha and extended his condolences to the bereaved families. He tweeted about speaking to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and receiving updates on the situation. The Prime Minister also announced an ex-gratia payment of ₹2 lacks for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. He tweeted, “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 Ashwini Vaishnaw 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”.

ndtv.com

The accident involved two passenger trains and a freight train. The impact was so severe that one train collided forcefully with another, causing carriages to be flung into the air, twisted, and ultimately derailed. One carriage was even flipped onto its roof, crushing the passenger section. Rescue teams employed metal-cutting tools to open the damaged carriages, desperately searching for trapped individuals. They managed to extract survivors and recover the bodies of those who did not survive. Throughout the night, the death toll continued to rise as emergency services counted the recovered bodies from 50 to over 100, eventually reaching nearly 300. The sound of ambulance sirens blared in the background, rushing those rescued from the wreckage to hospitals. Given the significant number of injuries, buses were also utilized to transport the wounded to medical centers.

According to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, following the deadliest train accident in India in over two decades, the country’s Railway Board has recommended that the investigation be entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the federal investigation agency. Vaishnaw said, “For future inquiry, for future investigation, a recommendation has been made by the Railway Board to hand over this case to the Central Bureau of Investigation”. As stated by Indian Railways officials in their initial detailed briefing on Sunday, the focus of the investigation has primarily been on the failure and suspected malfunctioning of the electronic track management system. It was also stated that more than 3400 passengers were traveling in the 2 trains. India’s state-run Indian Railways, responsible for transporting over 13 million passengers daily, has been striving to improve its shaky safety record, which has been attributed to its aging infrastructure.

Read more

More News