21 Out Of 28 Tamil Passengers Fine, Says TN Minister On Odisha Train Accident

"This accident should not have happened, the Union Government should find out what caused this damage and take appropriate action,” minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said.

Restoration work underway at the site of Friday's triple train accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station, in Balasore district, Sunday.

New Delhi: Out of the 127 people from Tamil Nadu who had booked to travel by Coromandel Express on Friday, 28 were Tamils and 21 of them were found to be fine, state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Sunday. Speaking about the devastating Odisha train crash that killed around 275 people and injured over 1,100, he said the Union Government should find out what caused the accident and take appropriate action.

“28 out of 127 people who had booked to travel by train were Tamils. Out of which 21 were found to be fine. Rest are also fine confirmed by people who are with them. This accident should not have happened, the Union Government should find out what caused this damage and take appropriate action,” news agency ANI quoted Udhayanidhi Stalin as saying.

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.