The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BALASORE, JUNE 2, 2023
At least 50 people were killed and over 300 injured as 4 coaches of Yashwantpur Howrah Superfast Express derailed and fell on opposite track, near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday evening, where the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express collided with them, leading to derailment of 12 more coaches, according to official sources.
“At least 3 to 4 coaches of Yashwantpur Howrah Superfast Express derailed around 6.58 p.m. near Bahanaga railway station in Odisha and fell on the opposite track. And soon Coromandel Express came on opposite track and collided with derailed coaches that led to derailment of its 10 to 12 coaches,” a senior Railway Ministry official in Delhi said.
A ministry statement said: “Train number 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and Train number 12864 SMVB-HWH Superfast Express got derailed near Bahanaga Bazar railway station at around 6.55 p.m. on Friday.”
Railway staff and officials are present at the accident site and rescue operations are going on at utmost priority, it said.
However, if eyewitnesses were to be believed, then the death toll is well over 200 and the injured passengers’ number might be more than 1000.
Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 2 lakh for seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries.
On the direction of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Revenue Minister Pramila Mallik and Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu rushed to the accident site. The Odisha government has also directed the Fire Service DG to rush to the spot and monitor the rescue operation.
The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team at Balasore has proceeded to the spot immediately for search and rescue operations.
On receiving the information, the Balasore Collector, the SP and other officials rushed to spot to supervise the rescue operation. Railway officials are now there on the spot.
About 50 ambulances have been pressed into service to transport the passengers to local hospitals, officials said.
An emergency helpline No +91 6782 262 286 has been opened at Balasore. Doctors were sent from the Balasore Medical College and all medical college and all hospitals in and around Balasore have been kept on alert. SCB Medical College, Cuttack has also been put on readiness.
Odisha Chief Minister Patnaik told media persons that he had “just reviewed the situation about this truly tragic railway accident” and will be visiting Balasore on Saturday morning.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief at the accident.
“Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw and took stock of the situation. Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected”, he tweeted.
On his part, Vaishnaw said that he was rushing to Balasore.
“Rushing to the site in Odisha. My prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured and condolences to the bereaved families. Rescue teams mobilised from Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. NDRF, State govt. teams and Airforce also mobilised. Will take all hands required for the rescue ops”, he tweeted.
