Odisha Rail Tragedy: Special Train Carrying Distressed Passengers Sets Off From Bhadrak To Bhubaneswar

The train, carrying passengers who were stranded after three trains piled up on Friday, is bound for state capital Bhubaneswar from where they will have to make arrangements to reach their destination

Restoration work underway at the site of the accident involving three trains, near Bahanga Bazar railway station in Balasore district.

Source : PTI

A special train carrying distressed passengers of the Odisha rail accident has set off from Bhadrak to Bhubaneswar. The train, carrying passengers who were stranded after three trains piled up on Friday, is bound for state capital Bhubaneswar after which the passengers will have to make arrangements to reach their destinations, station manager Subhash Chandra Sahu told news agency ANI. “The train is only for distressed passengers…from Bhubaneswar the passengers will have to change the train,” he was quoted as saying. 

275 people were reported dead and over a thousand injured after three trains — Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah SF Express, and a freight train — collided after Coromandel Express derailed near Bahanaga railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday night. 

On Sunday, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced operation of daily bus service to Kolkata from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Puri till the restoration of normal train services on the Balasore route. Around 50 buses will operate daily to provide transport facility to Kolkata, said the state government in a statement. 

The Railways board on Sunday said that the goods train that was involved in the Odisha triple train accident was carrying iron ore which led to the huge number of casualties and injuries. Jaya Varma Sinha, Member of Operation and Business Development, Railway Board said that the freight train did not derail but since it was carrying iron ore, the maximum impact was on Coromandel Express. Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said the revised death toll stood at 275 instead of 288. 

She added that issue with the signalling was identified as the cause of the accident as per the preliminary findings. 

Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena told news agency ANI that the revised death toll stood at 275, instead of 288, out of which 88 have been identified. 

Out of 1,175 injured, 793 have been discharged after treatment, he added.