Bhubaneshwar (Odisha): After the devastating collision involving two passenger trains and a goods train that claimed the lives of at least 278 people leaving more than 1,100 injured in Odisha's Balasore, officials said that 101 bodies are yet to be identified.
Rinkesh Roy, Divisional Railway Manager of the Eastern Central Railways said that out of 1,100 injured, 900 were discharged after treatment while 200 people are still being treated in various hospitals across the state. "Out of 278 passengers who lost their lives in this tragic accident, the bodies of 177 deceased were handed over to their families after the process of identification, while 101 bodies are still unidentified."
We have deployed teams across the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu and a PDF file consisting of photographs of the unidentified deceased along with some identification marks has been circulated in these states, ANI quoted Roy as saying.
We hope to reach the families of these unidentified deceased and we aim to see that all the bodies are identified and handed over to their relatives. In this entire process, AIIMS is working scientifically to preserve the bodies for a longer period so that we can unite the deceased with their loved ones, Roy added.
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Vijay Amrit Kulange, Commissioner, of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation said 80 bodies of 193 bodies preserved in Bhubaneswar have been identified so far and 55 of them have been handed over to the relatives. "The process of identification and handing over the bodies is underway."
The accident occurred when the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express collided with a stationary freight train. The collision caused several coaches of the passenger train to derail and some coaches fell on the down line. The Howrah Express, travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah, hit the derailed coaches leading to a huge pileup of coaches and further derailment.
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On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the Balasore accident site from ground zero and also visited the injured being treated at the hospital. Before leaving Delhi for the mishap site, PM Modi had also chaired a high-level review meeting on the same. (with Agency inputs)
