Kin Of Odisha Train Accident Victims Still Waiting For Bodies Even After 1 Month

Around 35 people have been camping at a guest house near AIIMS Bhubaneswar waiting for the bodies while 15 others have left for home due to a delay in the arrival of DNA reports. 

Kin of Odisha train accident victims still wait for the bodies/Representational Image

Source : PTI File Photo

Kin of the victims aboard the ill-fated Coromandel Express are still waiting to receive the bodies of their deceased family members as the accident is near to complete its one month. Nearly 300 passengers were killed in the June 2 Odisha train accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district. Basanti Devi from Bari-Ballia village in Bihar’s Begusarai district has been camping in a guest house located at an isolated area near AIIMS Bhubaneswar since the last 10 days to claim her husband’s body. 

“I’m here for my husband Yogendra Paswan, a contract labourer. He was killed in the accident at Bahanaga Bazar while returning home in the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express,” she told news agency PTI. 

Adding to her woes is the fact that she is not getting the information about exactly when she will get the body. “While some officials say it will take 5 more days, others say it might take more time. There is just no clarity by the administration,” she added.

“I have five kids. I have left behind three kids and brought two sons with me. My husband was the sole breadwinner. I don’t know how I will be able to survive,” she added.

Narayan Rishidev from Bihar’s Purnia also echoed similar sentiments.who has been waiting to claim the body of his grandson Suraj Kumar since June 4. After completing his matriculation, Suraj was travelling to Chennai in the ill-fated Coromandel Express heading to Chennai in search of a job. 

“The authorities have already taken my DNA sample, but the report is yet to come,” he told the news agency. 

Shivkant Roy from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district might not be able to bid a final goodbye to his son, Vipul as he claimed that his body was handed over to someone else. Vipul was returning home from Tirupati for his marriage in June-end.

“My son’s body was kept at KIMS Hospital but I kept looking for him in a Balasore hospital. I was later informed that KIMS Hospital handed over the body to someone from Bihar, who took it with him and cremated it,” Roy said, 

Around 35 people have been camping at the guest house while 15 others have left for home due to delay in arrival of DNA reports, the report stated. 

Meanwhile, a railway official that they were appealing to claimants to provide their DNA samples.

“We are just a bridge between AIIMS and the state government,” the railway official said.

So far, identities of 81 bodies preserved in three containers at Bhubaneswar AIIMS are yet to be ascertained. A total of 84 families have given DNA samples, as per the report.