NEW DELHI: Four days after the tragic accident that killed 278 passengers, the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express on Tuesday passed through the ill-fated site of the accident near Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha‘s Balasore.
Notably, the train, which was reduced to a mangled heap of steel in Friday’s tragedy, crossed the site at a speed of 30kmph. On Friday, it was running at a full speed of 128kmph when it crashed into a stationary goods train.
As the Coromandel Express passed by, several onlookers witnessed the locomotive chug through the distance.
As many as 70 trains, including the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express, have so far crossed through Bahanaga Bazar Station since both the up and down lines were restored on Sunday night.

On Friday, the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express mistakenly entered the loopline instead of staying on the mainline and crashed into a goods train near the station. Three coaches of the train rammed into the rear coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express in a triple train crash.
Meanwhile, the CBI has taken over the investigation into the tragic train accident and has filed an FIR. Railway officials have suspected “deliberate interference” in the electronic interlocking system which may have led to the accident.
(With inputs from PTI)