Odisha train tragedy: 288 dead, 803 injured

A ldquomistakenrdquo signal is likely to be the reason the Coromandel Express diverted to the line where the goods train was parked The estimated death toll of the crash was around 288 people at the time of going to pressThe Balasore district hospital and Soro hospital where the injured have been rushed are bursting at their seams with patients spilling onto corridors A large number of youth donated around 500 units of blood The morgues at the hospitals were a pile of white shrouded bodies many of them yet to be identifiedCranes used to recover victimsrsquo bodies from a carriage wreckage of a threetrain collision near Balasore PICSPTIWhile speaking to news agency Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that he has ordered a probe into the Odisha train accident ldquoI have given out an order to conduct a highlevel probe to find out why this accident happenedhellipit is important to get to the root causerdquo he saidRailway officials said it is also not yet clear if Coromandel Express entered the loop line and hit the stationary goods train or it first derailed and then hit the parked train Another reason is the unfortunate timing of the second passenger train which came at a very high speedMore than 300 NDRF rescuers are working at the train accident site The main task of the force is to look for and rescue the victims who are still alive The Indian Air Force IAF deployed Mi17 helicopters for the evacuation of the deceased and injuredWounded survivor rescued from the train crash wreckageOdisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered state mourning for a day Consequently no state celebration shall be held on June 3 throughout the state The Ministry of Civil Aviation asked airlines to monitor and take necessary action in case of any abnormal surge in airfares to and from Bhubaneswar Besides the ministry said that any cancellation and rescheduling on flights due to the incident may be done without penal charges250 arrive in Chennai on spl trainAs many as 250 passengers who survived the train crash in Odisha went to Chennai on a special train a railway official said on Saturday Train number P13671 started from Bhadrak towards Chennai carrying the stranded passengers from the accident site at Bahanaga Bazaar and it was scheduled to arrive at Vijayawada by 930 pm Three passengers of the train crash claim the number of deaths in the accident at Balasore is likely to be much higher than known now as the unreserved compartments were packed carrying mostly migrant workers to Tamil Nadu or Kerala Nagendran who works in Kolkata and hails from Ramanathapuram said ldquoThe second the accident happened I thought I was going to dierdquo The sleeper and general cars were the worst affectedPM Modi promises swift actionPrime Minister Narendra Modi takes stock of the situation at the site of the accident involving Coromandel Express BengaluruHowrah Express and a goods train in Balasore districtPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inspected the accident site to take stock of relief operations He was accompanied by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and was briefed on the situation PM Modi asked the ministers to ensure all help needed is provided to the injured and their families He stressed that grieving families should not face any inconvenience He also added that directions have been given to probe the train accident and that whoever is found guilty will not be sparedWhat do ministers have to sayWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said the triple train accident in Odishas Balasore district was the ldquobiggest of the centuryrdquo and a proper investigation was needed to unravel the truth Banerjee who has been the Railway minister twice said the crash could have been averted had the anticollision system been operational on this route Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar demanded an inquiry and resignation of the Railway MinisterWhere was KavachThe incident has brought the railwaysrsquo automatic train protection system Kavach into focus The railways has said that Kavach was not available on the route where the accident occurred on Friday evening Indian Railways has developed its own automatic train protection system for enhancing safety of running trains It has been developed indigenously by the Research Design and Standards Organisation in association with three Indian vendors It will not only aid loco pilot to avoid signal passing and danger due to overspeeding but also help in train running during inclement weather such as dense fogTweet talkJustin TrudeauJustinTrudeau The images and reports of the train crash in Odisha India break my heart Im sending my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones and Im keeping the injured in my thoughts At this difficult time Canadians are standing with the people of IndiaRishi SunakRishiSunak My thoughts and prayers are with narendramodi and with all affected by the tragic events in Odisha My deepest condolences to the family and friends of those killed and my heartfelt support and admiration to the survivors and those working tirelessly to respondAug rsquo95Said to be the last deadliest crash when two trains collided near New Delhi killing 358Rs 10LAmount given to family of deceased130KMhSpeed of The Coromandel Express when it collided with a stationary freight train causing it to derail