Horrific Train Accident: Death Toll Reaches 238, Over 900 Injured

Bhubaneswar: At least 238 people died and over 900 were injured when a passenger train hit the derailed coaches of another train in Odisha’s Balasore Friday night. A third freight train was also involved in the accident, reported NDTV quoting Odisha Chief Secretary PK Jena.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has declared to appoint a high-level committee to investigate the train accident.

This train accident said to be one of the most deadliest in the country involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train.

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 for the rescue operations.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has declared one-day state mourning in view of the horrific train crash.

The Railway Minister visited the accident site on Saturday morning to take stock of the situation. Railway minister Vaishnaw has announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh for those who killed in the accident, Rs 2 lakh for those seriously injured and Rs 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 Rs 2 lakh for the family of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the PM’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

Around 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.