At least 233 feared dead, around 900 injured as Coromandel, Yeswanthpur Express trains derail in Odisha

“It’s a major accident and the toll could go up significantly. We have not started removing the bodies yet as our priority at this moment is to shift the injured to the hospital and to provide necessary treatment,” said a senior Balasore district official at the spot.

Multiple sources engaged in relief and rescue operations at the site indicated a number between 50 and 100 for those feared dead.

A spokesperson for the South Eastern Railway said: “Due to the tragic accident of Train No. 12841 (Coromandel Express), coach number B2 to B9, A1 & A2 capsized. Coach No. B1 & Engine got derailed. Coach H1 & GS coach is on rail.

In Train No. 12864 (Yesvantpur-Howrah Express), 1 GS coach got damaged on rail, Rear side GS & 02 bogies derailed and capsized, coach no A1 to engine on rail. As of now, 38 casualties and more than 300 injured passengers are reported. The injured are being admitted to nearby health units.”

Odisha Fire Services Director General Sudhanshu Sarangi said over 400 injured have been shifted to various hospitals in Balasore and nearby districts. “We hope to complete the rescue operation by 2 am (Saturday). Over 300 Fire Services personnel have been engaged,” he said.

The derailments took place almost simultaneously at the Bahanaga Bazar. Railway sources said the Coromandel Express derailed at 6.59 pm while the second train derailed at 7 pm.

“The Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express was passing through Bahanaga Bazar station when 12 of its coaches derailed. The Yesvantpur-Howrah Express, which was passing through an adjacent line, slammed into the derailed coaches. As a result, three coaches of this train too were derailed,” a senior official of the Railways told The Indian Express.

Two accident relief trains from Bhadrak and Kharagpur were dispatched immediately. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced ex gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh in case of death, Rs 2 lakh for the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries.

Vaishnaw, who was on his way to Goa for Saturday’s scheduled inauguration of the Madgaon-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express, returned to Delhi to take a connecting flight to Odisha. He also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Goa about the accident.

In a Twitter post, Modi said, “Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and took stock of the situation. Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected.”

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said he had reviewed the situation, and would be travelling to the accident site early Saturday.

Sources told The Indian Express that the Bahanaga Bazar is a four-line station where a goods train was stationary on a loop line. The two main lines, Up and Down, were hosting the two superfast express trains which were to just pass the station from opposite directions.

The stationary goods train also got hit by the derailed coaches of the Coromandel Express which gave officials the prima facie impression that the passenger train had collided with it.

“There is also a version of events from local station officials that says it could have been the train from Bengaluru that derailed first and infringed on the track of the Coromandel. But since the two derailments were just a minute, if not seconds apart, the inquiry by the Commissioner of Rail Safety would get into that. But after seeing the nature of the derailment at site, it seems that the former sequence of events is most likely,” a top Railway ministry official said. The NDRF swung into action with air relief and rescue apparatus. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Twitter: “The train accident at Balasore in Odisha is deeply agonizing. The NDRF team has already reached the accident site, and other teams are also rushing to join the rescue operation. My condolences to the bereaved families and praying for the speedy recovery of those injured.”

The last train accident of such magnitude took place in November 2016 in Pokhrayan near Kanpur when the Indore-Patna Express derailed, killing 150 passengers. While the government at that time probed possible sabotage, a Commissioner of Railway Safety report found a welding fault as the probable cause.