Odisha School Where Bodies Of Balasore Train Accident Victims Were Kept Demolished. Video

The demolition work was being carried out in the presence of the school managing committee (SMC) members and Public Works Department officials.

The demolition work was being carried out in the presence of the school managing committee (SMC) members and Public Works Department officials.

New Delhi: Bahanaga High School in Odisha's Balasore, that was turned into a temporary mortuary to keep the bodies of the devastating triple train accident victims, was demolished on Friday, news agency ANI reported. This comes after the teachers urged the state government to demolish the building and build it afresh after the students refused to resume classes in the school that served as a makeshift morgue following the triple train crash that killed 288 people last week.

The demolition work was being carried out in the presence of the school managing committee (SMC) members and Public Works Department officials.

#WATCH | Odisha | Parts of Bahanaga school building in Balasore are being razed. This comes after the parents expressed their reluctance in sending their children to school after it was turned into a temporary mortuary for the deceased of #BalasoreTrainAccident

A teacher says,… pic.twitter.com/dm4zt5mHwZ

— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2023

“The collector visited the building yesterday. There is nothing to be scared of and there are no spirits here. It's just superstition. Still, this will be taken down and a new building will be built,” quoted a teacher as saying.

Balasore district collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde, who visited the school on Thursday on the directions of the school and mass education department, said, “I have met members of the school management committee, headmistress, other staff and local people. They want to demolish the old building and renovate it so that children do not have any fear or apprehension to attend classes.”

According to a report by news agency PTI, Although the bodies were shifted to Bhubaneswar and the school campus was sanitised and cleaned, the students and their parents were scared.

“It is difficult to forget that so many bodies were kept in our school building,” a student said. “Our children are refusing to go to school and their mothers are not keen to send them to the educational institute now,” one of the guardians said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the District Education Officer (DEO), Balasore, Bishnu Charan Sutar held a meeting with the alumni members to encourage the students and the parents to not indulge in any negative thoughts. “We will ensure that no student drops out of the school due to this reason,” he said.