Odisha: Three killed, seven injured as goods train derails; ex-gratia announced

A goods train derailed at Korai railway station in Odishas Jajpur district on Monday morning with wagons ploughing into waiting passengers killing at least three of them and injuring seven others officials saidEast Coast Railway ECoR officials said that the accident took place around 644 am when some people were waiting at the platform and the waiting hall for a passenger trainStation staffers said that the loco pilot of the empty goods train moving from Dongoaposi to Chhatrapur applied sudden brakes causing eight wagons to derail and plough into the passengers on the platform and the waiting hallJajpur Additional District Magistrate Akshay Kumar Mallick who is monitoring the rescue operation said that some derailed wagons climbed the footoverbridge and fell on the waiting hall and ticket counterHe said that two women are among the three deceasedThe two women were mother and daughter while a twoandhalfyearold child with them miraculously survived the man who lost his wife and daughter saidA senior police officer said that they suspect that more people might be trapped underneath the debrisThe number of fatalities may go up as some people have been seriously injured Railway officials said adding that the station building was damaged in the accidentIn videos that have gone viral on social media derailed wagons were seen strewn across both platforms with axles lying on the railway tracksAlso Read Mehrauli murder case Shraddha had filed police case in Nov 2020 but dropped itSome wagons were seen damaging one entrance of the footoverbridge while others tearing apart overhead power wires and demolishing buildings of the railway stationLocals were seen giving a hand to rescue teams in clearing the debris and looking for bodies and injured persons beneath itApart from Railways Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force ODRAF Fire Services and locals are engaged in the rescue operations an official saidMeanwhile Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced Rs 5 lakh exgratia for the next of kin of the deceased Rs 1 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 25000 for those sustaining minor injuriesI am deeply saddened by the loss of lives in the Korai train accident Announcing a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of the deceased Rs 1 lakh to the seriously injured and Rs 25000 to those sustaining minor injuries he tweeted in OdiaChief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed deep condolences and announced an exgratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and free treatment for the injuredPatnaik asked Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Ramilla Mallick to visit the spot and take stock of the situationTrain services were affected on the HowrahChennai route as both lines were blocked due to the accidentECoR has cancelled eight trains shortterminated five and diverted 12 others chief public relations officer Biswajit Sahu saidAn accident relief train and a medical team have been sent to the spot he addedHundreds of passengers were stranded in various railway stations including Bhubaneswar and Puri Some of them had already checkedout of their hotels and were waiting to board their trainsECoR has issued emergency helpline numbers 8455889905 Korai station 06742534027 Bhubaneswar and 06742492245 Khurda Road ECoR General Manager Roop Narayan Sunkar and other senior officials have rushed to the spot to monitor relief workThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever