Odisha Train Accident: At least 120 Dead, Over 600 Injured; Railway Minister Orders Probe

At least 120 people died and 600 people were injured as a three-way accident involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and goods train on three separate tracks occurred at Bahanagar in Odisha's Balasore district.

A railway official said that several coaches of 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express travelling to Howrah, derailed at Bahanagabazar and fell on the upline.

"These derailed coaches collided with 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and its coaches capsized too," he said.

A goods train was also involved in the accident as the coaches of the Coromandel Express hit its wagons after getting derailed, the official said. The accident occurred at around 7 pm, about 255 kms from Howrah, he said.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was on the way to the spot, said the Air Force was also called in for the rescue operations. "Rushing to the site in Odisha. My prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured and condolences to the bereaved families. Rescue teams mobilised from Bhubaneswar and Kolkata."

Officials in Bhubaneswar said 115 ambulances, 50 buses and 45 mobile health units were working at the accident site, besides 1,200 personnel. Locals said they heard consecutive loud sounds, following which they rushed to the spot and found the derailed coaches, which were nothing but "a mangled heap of steel", PTI reported.

The train, which originates from Shalimar station in West Bengal, started its journey at 3.30 pm today. It was scheduled to end its journey at Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station in Chennai tomorrow at 4.50 pm. The other train was on the way to Kolkata from Bengaluru, Railway Ministry spokesperson Amitabh Sharma told NDTV.

The Railway Minister said that a high-level probe has been ordered over the incident. "I have given out an order to conduct a high-level probe to find out why this accident happened...it is important to get to the root cause, Vaishnaw to ANI.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the train accident in Odisha's Balasore district. "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," he wrote on Twitter.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed her shock over the incident and said that her government is coordinating with the Odisha government in the rescue operation by sending five-six member teams.

"Shocked to know that the Shalimar- Coromondel express, carrying passengers from West Bengal, collided with a goods train near Balasore today evening and some of our outbound people have been seriously affected/ injured. We are coordinating with Odisha government and South Eastern Railways for our people's sake. Our emergency control room has been activated at once with numbers 033- 22143526/ 22535185. All out efforts for rescue, retrieval, aid and assistance initiated," she said on Twitter.

Banerjee said that she is monitoring the situation personally with Chief Secretary and other senior officers.

Railway Helplines
The railway helplines are 033-26382217 (Howrah), 8972073925 (Kharagpur), 8249591559 (Balasore) and 044- 25330952 (Chennai).

Compensation
PM Modi has 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).

The Prime Minister's Office said, "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."

The Railway Minister has announced ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the deceased, Rs 2 lakh for those grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for those who got minor injuries.