Odisha Train Accident: 40 Passengers Believed To Have Died Due To Electrocution

Following the triple train accident, 531 people have been compensated so far amounting to around Rs 15.6 crores

The GRP said 40 passengers are believed to have died due to electrocution

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Around 40 passengers on board the ill-fated Coromandel express are believed to have died of electrocution as they had no visible injury marks, said Government Railway Police on Tuesday. As per an FIR lodged at Government Railway Police Station at Balasore, live overhead wires which snapped when the accident occurred, entangled with a few coaches, electrocuting the passengers trapped in them, reported news agency PTI. The death toll in the triple train accident on Tuesday increased to 278 after three passengers succumbed to their injuries after being hospitalised. 

“Many passengers succumbed to injuries caused due to the collision and electrocution (after) coming in contact with overhead LT (low tension) line,” Sub-inspector of Police, P Kumar Nayak in his FIR said. 

As the coaches toppled over during the accident, overturned electric masts, the overhead wires snapped which would have electrocuted the passengers to death. 

278 people were killed while over 900 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. 

531 People Compensated So Far 

Following the triple train accident, 531 people have been compensated so far amounting to around Rs 15.6 crores, Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, CPRO, South Eastern Railway told news agency ANI. 

“Over 531 people have been compensated amounting to around Rs 15.6 crores. Those families who have lost their members & who want to get compensation...I appeal to them to contact our helpdesks in Cuttack, Midnapore, Bhubaneswar and Balasore,” he said. 

The railways on Friday, just after the accident, announced a financial compensation of Rupees 10 lakh to the family of deceased, Rs 2 lakh to grievously injured, and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. 

On Monday, the Railways announced that it will compensate even ticketless passengers on the two passenger trains involved in the accident. 

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