Bhubaneswar: Around 40 bodies recovered from the Coromandel Express involved in the triple train crash had no visible injury marks and are believed to have died of electrocution, the GRP said. An FIR registered at the Government Railway Police station at Balasore indicated that live overhead wires which snapped when the accident occurred, entangled with a few coaches, electrocuting the passengers trapped in them.
Sub-inspector of Police, P Kumar Nayak in his FIR said, Many passengers succumbed to injuries caused due to the collision and electrocution (after) coming in contact with overhead LT (low tension) line. The overhead wires snapped as coaches which toppled over during the triple train accident overturned electrical masts, said officials.
The three trains involved in the major accident which claimed 278 lives and injured 1200, were the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Express and a stationary goods train. The CBI has on Tuesday taken over the Balasore GRP case No. 64 registered by Odisha Police.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case in the tragic three-train crash in Odisha's Balasore district that took place on June 2. In the statement, CBI said, "On the request of Ministry of Railways, consent of the Odisha Government and further orders from DoPT(Govt. of India) relating to the train accident involving Coromandel Express, Yashwantpur-Howrah Express and a Goods train at Bahanaga Bazar in the State of Odisha on June 2, 2023."
"CBI has taken over the investigation of the case earlier registered at Balasore GRPS, District Cuttack (Odisha) vide GRPS Case No.64 dated June 3 regarding the said accident," the statement furthr said. The statement further reads that a CBI team has reached Balasore and investigation has begin.
A senior official said, "A team of CBI with experts will investigate to find out if it was a deliberate attempt to derail the Coromandel Express or it was human error. Team is camping at the site." The tragic train accident killed 278 people and injured nearly 1,100 in what was the worst accident suffered by the public transporter since 1995. (With agency Inputs)