Odisha train tragedy: Union ministers visit injured at hospital

File Photo/PTI

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya along with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Cabinet Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited the injured victims of the triple train accident, in Cuttack on Sunday.

According to officials, the Union ministers met the injured passengers at the Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

The ministers also held a meeting with doctors from AIIMS, Bhubaneswar as well as those from SCB Medical College and Hospital, informed officials.

Earlier, on Sunday, Railway Minister Vaishnaw, along with fellow Union cabinet colleague Dharmendra Pradhan, arrived at the district hospital to check on the injured.

The accident in Balasore district, involving two passenger trains and one goods train, claimed 275 lives and left over 1,000 injured.

Upon their visit to the hospital, the Union ministers were spotted consoling the injured and their family members. Vaishnaw informed further that the doctors were dispensing proper treatment to the victims.

He added that railway tracks on the up and down lines, which were damaged in the triple train tragedy, have been restored for the resumption of services.

"We met patients nursing injuries at Bhadrak hospital. Almost all patients are in contact with their famlies. The doctors and staff are providing proper treatment to the injured. Track restoration work has been completed," Vaishnaw told reporters.

Earlier, taking to Twitter, Vaishnaw informed that the down line had been restored for resumption of service.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rang up the Railway minister, asking him to oversee the repair and restoration of the damaged tracks.

The accident on Friday evening involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods train on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in the Balasore district.

The Railway minister on Sunday said the triple train accident in Balasore occurred due to a "change in electronic interlocking".

Electronic interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements between trains through an arrangement of tracks. It is basically a safety measure to prevent signals from being changed in improper sequence. The aim of this system is that no train gets the signal to proceed unless the route is proven safe.

Speaking to ANI, Vaishnav said, "This is a different issue. This is about Point Machine, electronic interlocking. The accident took place due to a change in electronic interlocking. Who did it and how it happened will become clear once the investigation reaches a logical end."

Earlier, on Saturday, Emergency Medical Officer, SCB Medical College Cuttack, Bhubana Nanda Moharana, said everything, including research and treatment for the victims of the tragic Balasore Train derailment, was made free by the state government.

Locals, numbering hundreds, had queued up outside Cuttack's SCB Medical College earlier to donate blood for the victims following the horrific train accident.

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