Train crash: Contact to be established with 6 persons, says TN govt

This horrific accident could have been avoided, Udhayanidhi said and urged the Centre to take steps to find out its cause, initiate action and avoid recurrence

In the Odisha train accident, people hailing from Tamil Nadu were not affected and out of the eight people who could not be contacted, two of them have been traced and they were safe, Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said here on Sunday.

On his arrival following a visit to Odisha along with Transport Minister SS Sivasankar to coordinate rescue activities, Udhayanidhi said he and his Cabinet colleague visited hospitals, mortuary, call centre for rescue initiatives.

He held discussions with Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and senior officials.

Udhayanidhi said no one from TN was admitted in hospitals and people from the State were unaffected he said quoting latest official information. At the call centre set up by the Odisha authorities, no calls were received seeking information on TN passengers, he said.

As regards eight Tamil Nadu people with whom contact could not be established, he said authorities have traced and spoken to two men --Narakanigopi and A Jagadeesan-- and they were safe.

Quoting railway police, who were apprised by co-passengers he said the six others were also safe. However, "when we speak directly to the six others also, we can come to a conclusion that no one from Tamil Nadu is affected," he said.

Senior Tamil Nadu government officials were still camping in Odisha for coordination, Udhayanidhi said.

This horrific accident could have been avoided, he said and urged the Centre to take steps to find out its cause, initiate action and avoid recurrence.

Udayanidhi lauded the Odisha government for taking swift action. Toeing his party, the DMK's stand, he said responsibility should be fixed for the tragedy.

Udhayanidhi and Sivasankar called on Chief Minister M K Stalin here and briefed him on the status and arrival of passengers hailing from Tamil Nadu and coordination activities.

Based on the information on passengers provided by the Southern Railway, a list of 127 TN people --who had furnished residential addresses in Tamil Nadu and those who had Tamil names-- was prepared by the state government. They had reserved tickets on the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express.

The State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) got in touch with them and 119 were safe. Earlier in the day, the government had said that eight people could not be contacted and fresh information has made it clear that direct contact has to be established with only six others, though there were inputs from co-passengers that they were safe.

The six persons are: Karthik (19), Raghunath (21), Meena (66), Kamal (26), Kalpana (19) and Arun (21). SEOC toll free number is 1070 and 9445869843 is the mobile number.