Odisha train crash: ‘Signal was given and taken off; Death toll rises to 288

The worst rail accident that happened in Odisha has been reported with at least 288 people dead and over 1,100 injured. As per the report, the investigation team is scrutinising the incident to find any human error, signal failure and other possible causes behind the three-train crash in Odisha’s Balasore district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the accident site and was briefed by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as well as officers of the disaster management teams. He also met some of the injured in the hospital.
The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,000 passengers, and a goods train occurred around 7 PM on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.

Seventeen coaches were derailed and severely damaged in the accident, trapping hundreds of passengers. Both passenger trains were at a high speed and experts have cited it as one of the main reasons for the high number of casualties. Large cranes were deployed to move the wreckage and gas cutters were used to extricate the bodies from the mangled, toppled coaches.

The rescue operation was wrapped up Saturday afternoon and restoration work started. The injured were admitted to four hospitals. Preliminary investigations have revealed that a signal was given to Coromandel Express to enter the main line but it was taken off and the train entered the loop line, where it crashed into a goods train parked there.

The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express which was coming at high speed crashed into the coaches of Coromandel Express that had scattered on the adjacent track. Citing reports till Saturday evening, officials said 288 people were killed in the accident.

As many as 1,175 people were admitted at various hospitals, including private ones, out of which 793 have been released and 382 were undergoing treatment, Odisha government officials said at around 8 PM Saturday.

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