At least 238 people were killed and around 900 were injured in a horrific three-train collision in Odisha’s Balasore, officials said Saturday, the country’s deadliest rail accident in more than 20 years. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a high-level committee will be set up to investigate the train crash.
The crash involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train.
The rescue operations are on and all hospitals in the nearby districts have been put on alert. Three NDRF units, 4 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force units, over 15 fire rescue teams, 30 doctors, 200 police personnel and 60 ambulances have been mobilised to the site, Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep told NDTV.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has declared one-day state mourning in view of the horrific train crash.
The Railway Minister visited the accident site this morning to take stock of the situation. “Restoration work will take place immediately. Staff and equipment is ready for restoration work, but our first priority is rescue and medical aid to those injured. We will know details only after a detailed inquiry. An independent inquiry will be done,” he said.
Mr Vaishnaw has also announced compensation of ₹ 10 lakh for those who have died, ₹ 2 lakh for those seriously injured and ₹ 50,000 for those who sustained minor injuries in the accident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too expressed his distress over the accident, and announced a compensation of ₹ 2 lakh for the family of the dead and ₹ 50,000 for the injured from the PM’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted she is monitoring the situation continually personally with the Chief Secretary and other senior officers.
So far, 18 long-distance trains have been cancelled due to the accident, which happened on the Howrah-Chennai main line in the Kharagpur division of the South Eastern Railway.
