Restoration work ongoing at war footing at Odisha accident site: Railways

Railways Ministry informed restoration work is ongoing at war footing in Odisha's Balasore where passenger trains and a goods carriage were involved in accident, leaving 288 passengers dead

The Railways Ministry informed on Saturday that the restoration work is ongoing at war footing in Odisha's Balasore where two passenger trains and a goods carriage were involved in a horrific accident, leaving 288 passengers dead and over 1,000 injured.

In a tweet, the Ministry of Railways said that the officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site.

"Restoration work is ongoing at Warfooting at the train accident site in Balasore, Odisha with 1000+ Manpower working tirelessly. At present, more than 7 Poclain Machines, 2 Accident Relief Trains, and 3-4 Railway and Road Cranes have been deployed for early restoration. Officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site," read the post on the official Twitter handle of the Railways ministry.

Chief Public Relations Officer of South Eastern Railway Aditya Kumar Chowdhary told ANI that traffic on the damaged tracks will be restored soon.

"The whole team is engaged. We are all busy at work. We are trying to restore traffic as soon as possible," Chowdhary said.

A report quoted officials as saying that a total of 1,175 injured passengers in the Balasore train derailment were admitted to various government and private hospitals. Of these, 793 have been discharged after treatment. Currently, 382 passengers are undergoing treatment in various government and private hospitals. The condition two of them is said to be critical, the report said.

The preliminary report on the tragedy said the three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and goods train on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in Balasore district. As many as 17 coaches of these two passenger trains were derailed and severely damaged in the accident on Friday evening.

Earlier, on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the accident spot, accompanied by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

"It's a painful incident. We might not bring back the lives lost but we are with the families of the victims at this hour of grief. The government has taken very serious note of the incident and will leave no stone unturned in treating the injured passengers. An investigation has been ordered and those found guilty will not be spared," PM Modi said.