Odisha Train Accident: PM Modi Convenes High Level Meet To Review Situation

PM Narendra Modi on Saturday convened a meeting to review the situation in relation to the rail accident in Odisha's Balasore district.

Wielding gas torches and electric cutters, rescuers are continuing to pull out survivors and the dead from the mangled steel of three trains that derailed one on top of another in a horrific sequence on Friday evening, killing at least 288 people and injuring more than 900 in Odisha's Balasore district, officials said.

Expressing distress over the train accident in Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 2 said rescue operations were underway at the site and all possible assistance was being given to those affected.

PM Modi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

At least 288 people were killed and over 900 injured in the train crash involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train.

Rescuers worked throughout the night to pull out survivors and the deceased from the mangled steel of the three trains that derailed one on top of another in a horrific sequence.

The train crash, the fourth deadliest in India according to available records, happened near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, around 7 pm on Friday, prompting the Railway Ministry to order a probe.