Odisha Train Accident: Mansukh Mandaviya, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Dharmendra Pradhan Visit Injured At Hospital

Earlier in the day, Mansukh Mandaviya visited AIIMS Bhubaneswar to take stock of medical assistance being provided to the injured victims.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya meets an injured at Capital Hospital following Friday's accident involving three trains, in Bhubaneswar, Sunday. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Sunday and met the people who suffered injuries in the devastating train accident in Odisha.

“Those injured in the Balasore train accident are receiving medical treatment in 5-6 hospitals in the state. All agencies including the state government, local administration met today to ensure proper treatment of the injured person,” news agency ANI quoted Mandaviya as saying.

#WATCH | Cuttack, Odisha: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw & Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visit Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College & Hospital #OdishaTrainAccident pic.twitter.com/nmRzCOMcAo

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2023

Earlier in the day, Mandaviya visited AIIMS Bhubaneswar to take stock of medical assistance being provided to the injured victims.

"More than 1,000 people are injured in this terrible accident and their treatment is underway. Over 100 patients need critical care and for their treatment, expert doctors from Delhi AIIMS, Lady Hardinge Hospital, and RML Hospital along with modern equipment and medicines have reached here. We had a detailed discussion and a working plan has also been prepared," the Union Minister said.

#WATCH | Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya today interacted with a passenger injured in Balasore train accident at a hospital in Odisha's Bhubaneswar pic.twitter.com/raQXGKSD44

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2023

The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers, and a goods train occurred around 7 PM on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar. The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express which was coming at high speed rammed into the coaches of Coromandel Express that had scattered on the adjacent track.

Twenty-one coaches were derailed and severely damaged in the accident, trapping hundreds of passengers. Both passenger trains were at a high speed and it has been cited by experts as one of the main reasons for the high number of casualties, as reported by PTI. Large cranes were deployed to move the wreckage and gas cutters were used to extricate the bodies from the mangled, toppled coaches.

Meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a probe into the train accident by an expert panel headed by a retired judge of the apex court. The PIL also seeks directions for the implementation of the KAVACH Protection System in Indian Railways with immediate effect to ensure public safety.