Odisha Train Accident Death Toll Rises To 278; Over 100 Bodies Yet To Be Identified

Apart from 278 deaths, 1,100 people were injured in the tragic Odisha train accident.

An aerial view of three trains that collided with each other resulting to a major accident in Odisha's Balasore district (ANI photo)

New Delhi: With three more people succumbing to their injuries, the official death toll in the Odisha triple train crash on Monday increased to 278. The Indian Railways said that apart from 278 deaths, 1,100 people were injured in the June 2 Balasore train crash. The toll was earlier put at 288, which the Odisha government revised to 275 on Sunday, claiming some bodies were counted twice.

Khurda Road Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Rinkesh Ray said that of the 278 bodies, 177 have been identified while 101 more are yet to be identified, and that the unclaimed bodies have been kept in six different hospitals. He also said that of the 1,100 injured, less than 200 are undergoing treatment in various hospitals. 

Roy informed that the Railways has deployed officials in Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu to locate any missing person.

CBI team visits Odisha train accident site

A 10-member CBI team on Monday visited the Balasore train accident site and began its probe into the triple train crash. In accordance with the procedure, the CBI will take over the Balasore GRP case number 64 registered by Odisha Police on June 3, official sources said, adding it is likely to be allotted to Special Crime Unit at the Delhi Headquarters.

The case was registered under various IPC sections like 37 and 38 (related to causing hurt and endangering lives through rash or negligent action), 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention), and sections 153 (unlawful and negligent action endangering lives of Railway passengers ), 154 and 175 (endangering lives) of the Railways Act.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced on Sunday that a CBI probe had been recommended into the accident.

Train movement resumes on restored tracks

Around 51 hours after the triple train crash and barely five hours after the damaged tracks were restored, train movement resumed late Sunday night with Ashwini Vaishnaw, who has been camping at the site to oversee restoration work, and other senior officials present at the site.

A coal-laden goods train from Vizag port to Rourkela Steel Plant was the first to run on the route around 10.40 pm on Sunday night with Vaishnaw waving to the train drivers.

The first high-speed passenger train - Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express - then also passed through Balasore on Monday morning, with wreckage from the accident still lying near the tracks and workers cleaning the site. Howrah-Puri Express and Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Sampark Kranti Express also passed the route.

Meanwhile, the railways has reportedly launched a safety drive with a slew of directions to all zonal headquarters on the security of station relay rooms and compounds housing signalling equipment, including 'double locking arrangements', after an initial probe showed 'signalling interference' as a suspected reason behind the Odisha triple-train accident.

Odisha train accident: Helpline numbers 

-- Railway Helpline number: 139

-- Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Helpline Number: 18003450061/1929

Municipal Commissioner's office, Bhubaneswar, has also established a control room, from where, with vehicles, people will be directed to either a hospital or mortuary as the case may be.