Odisha three-train accident: 288 dead in India’s worst train tragedy since 1995; survivors recount horrors | India News – Times of India

0
34
Advertisements


BALASORE/BHUBANESWAR: The death toll in the three-train accident at Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha’s Balasore district rose to 288 on Saturday and left more than 1,000 injured, with a preliminary investigation implying human error in the deadliest railway tragedy in 30 years.
Search and rescue was called off 18 hours after Friday night’s accident, and authorities mounted a multi-agency probe to ascertain how a superfast train veered from its original path into the loopline and rear-ended a parked freight train, causing a fatal domino effect. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the commissioner of railway safety will hold a separate probe to find out the cause of the accident — human error, signal failure, or other possible reasons — to prevent similar tragedies.

Screenshot 2023-06-04 015412

A probe by railway authorities said the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express had received signal indication to move on to the mainline towards Chennai, but it wrongly veered to a loopline. An internal inspection report of South Eastern Railway says as much.

‘Saw 200-300 dead bodies, people were crying for help’: Survivor of Balasore train tragedy

03:42

‘Saw 200-300 dead bodies, people were crying for help’: Survivor of Balasore train tragedy

The Coromandel Express crashed so hard at speeds above 100kmph that its engine climbed the goods train and 22 compartments packed with passengers derailed. Three of the derailed coaches careened into parallel tracks and whiplashed the tail end of the Sir M Visveswaraya Terminal Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express (12864) crossing the station at the same time.

Coromandel Express tragedy: ‘As if bomb had exploded, limbless bodies lying everywhere, ’survivors recount horror

02:49

Coromandel Express tragedy: ‘As if bomb had exploded, limbless bodies lying everywhere, ’survivors recount horror

“The Coromandel moving to the loopline could be due to human interface. It could be either an error or negligence,” a senior official said.
Rescuers searched the mangled carriages, piles of debris and wreckage to pull out bodies and survivors, and rush the injured to hospital. As a bulldozer lifted two battered coaches Saturday evening, 27 bodies were found trapped under them, underscoring the scale of the tragedy.

Overturned bogies, hung wires and desperate rescue mission: Ground report from accident spot

07:10

Overturned bogies, hung wires and desperate rescue mission: Ground report from accident spot

PM Narendra Modi visited the crash site Saturday afternoon, while Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik reviewed the progress of the rescue operation at Bahanaga early in the morning. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also visited the site.

“I am feeling unbearable pain and the citizens of many states have lost something or the other in this journey. For those who have lost their lives, this is very painful and disturbing beyond pain,” the PM said, while promising that the guilty will get the harshest punishment.
As the tragedy riveted a shocked nation, calls to prioritise train safety rang out along with the demand to fix accountability. Questions were being asked why the anti-train collision system, called Kavach, was not available on this busy Howrah-Chennai eastern route.

Very disturbing accident, no one responsible will be spared: PM Modi on Odisha train tragedy

04:01

Very disturbing accident, no one responsible will be spared: PM Modi on Odisha train tragedy

‘Was surrounded by people drenched in blood, crying out for assistance’
Shocked survivors — many with sutured wounds — recounted harrowing near-death experiences. “In a matter of seconds, it felt like the train was streaking through air. Then, with a deafening crash and an abrupt jolt, it came to a halt, thrashing us around. I was surrounded by people drenched in blood, desperately crying out for assistance,” said Pappu Yadav, a 30-year-old from Bihar, who was injured in the Coromandel Express.
Family members stood outside hospital wards in Balasore, Cuttack, and Bhubaneswar. Around 500 injured passengers were being treated in hospitals in Odisha, while 390 were referred or shifted outside the state.
The two drivers of Coromandel Express are getting treatment for their injuries at a private hospital. They are said to be stable.
At the mortuary in Balasore, a heart-wrenching sight unfolded as wailing relatives looked for their loved ones among hundreds of corpses. To quicken the autopsy process, the Odisha government shifted 160 bodies to Bhubaneswar. Chief secretary Pradeep Jena said DNA tests will be done on unidentified bodies.
Survivors also scoured the crash site under a sweltering summer sun. A large number of locals had gathered there too, many helping in the search and rescue efforts. Volunteers were seen bringing food and water to the stranded survivors and exhausted rescuers.
People living near Bahanaga Bazar station were the first responders. Thousands of them stood in queue to donate blood for the injured. PM Modi lauded their altruism.
“I still can’t believe I survived. I had to crawl on the blood-soaked body of a passenger to get out of the train in the dark. I couldn’t see anything. There was smoke all around,” said survivor Brahma Das. “As I came out, I saw hundreds of lights from mobile phones aiming at me. They were locals,” said the shaken man who was in the third general compartment from the engine of Coromandel Express.





Source link