Fifty five bodies identified

PATIALA, Nov 29: Fifty five of the total 80 bodies of the Khanna train mishap victims brought to the Government Medical College here had bee...

PATIALA, Nov 29: Fifty five of the total 80 bodies of the Khanna train mishap victims brought to the Government Medical College here had been identified by this evening here.

Dr S.S. Sidhu, medical superintendent of the Government Rajindera Hospital attached with the Government Medical College who is overseeing the entire operation, said that while 37 bodies had been despatched in trucks made available by the district administration, formalities including conducting of post mortem, were being completed in the rest of the cases. These bodies too were expected to be despatched to their destinations by late evening.

Sidhu said the administration had made arrangements for the boarding and lodging of the relatives of the victims coming from outstation. Coffins were made available for the bodies and transportation provided free of charge for carrying the bodies to their destinations.

Sidhu said a final decision on the disposal of the bodies which had not been identified so far, would be taken by tomorrow afternoon. It had been decided that the bodies be kept here for identification for another day in view of more relatives coming from far places to claim them.

Meanwhile, the Petroleum Dealers Association has made given Rs 11,000 to the district administration for meeting the diesel charges of trucks carrying the bodies.

LUDHIANA: Forty pieces of luggage, Rs 3 lakh, jewellery, watches, cheques, bank drafts and cameras which have been recovered from the accident site have been kept at the A.S. College, Khanna. The valuables can be collected from the college Phone No: 01628 30470, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m..

The recovery committee, comprising Principal A.S College T.R. Bahia, Dev Krishan Jindal, Dr Ashwini Bansal and S.S.Gill, SDM Khanna, has already handed over 85 pieces of luggage, Rs 3 lakh and 400 gm of jewellery to 56 people after proper identification.

Story continues below this ad

At the site in Khanna, anxious relatives of Ashdeep Singh Walia, a student of medicine in Amritsar, who was on board the Frontier Mail, appealed to the authorities to once again search for the body under the engine. They asked PPCC president Amarinder Singh, who visited the spot, to intervene in the matter.

In Ludhiana, of the 57 patients initially admitted to CMC Hospital, 19 have been discharged. Three of the remaining 38 patients are still in a serious condition. Of the 30 patients admitted initially in DMC, one of them had died earlier, two have been discharged, two sent to the Jalandhar Military Hospital, 1 to CMC while 24 are still at the hospital.