Accident involving three trains in Odisha: What caused the collision in Odisha?
The preliminary investigation indicates that the signal for the Coromandel Express was issued and then turned off; Prime Minister Modi visits the scene of the derailment.
A catastrophic collision involving three trains in the state of Odisha in eastern India has resulted in the deaths of 288 people and the injuries of hundreds more, the most of whom sustained critical injuries.
It is not yet known what caused the disaster, which is being referred to as the worst to occur in India in this century.
The Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who has been present at the scene of the tragedy, has stated that “a high-level committee” will be established to investigate the disaster.
Dharmendra Pradhan, who is also a member of Mr. Vaishnaw’s cabinet, stated that “technical reasons” were to blame for the accident and referred to it as “an unfortunate incident” that “shouldn’t have happened.”
An official stated that the commissioner of railway safety for the south-eastern circle, which covers the Balasore area where the accident took place, would be in charge of leading the investigation into the incident.
The railway ministry reported that the accident occurred about 18:55 (13:25 GMT) on Friday close to the Bahanaga Bazar station. This location is around 270 kilometres (about 170 miles) south of Kolkata. Full details regarding how it occurred are not yet available.
There were three trains involved in the accident:
Coromandel Express, which had begun its journey only a few hours earlier from Shalimar railway station in the state of West Bengal and was en route to the city of Chennai in the south Howrah Superfast Express, which had begun its journey from Yesvantpur station in Bengaluru and was scheduled to arrive in Howrah Coromandel Express, which had begun its journey just a few hours earlier from Shalimar railway station in West Bengal and was en route to the
A cargo train that had stopped moving and was currently parked at the Bahanaga Bazar station
There are several different versions of what transpired when the incident occurred and which train derailed first. However, a representative for the railway, named Amitabh Sharma, stated that the Coromandel Express was the one that derailed first.
The BBC was informed by an official from the railway ministry that there were four tracks at the Bahanaga Bazar station.
“Goods trains were parked on Lines 1 and 4, which were the main lines. Tracks two and three were being utilised by passenger trains in a manner that was both parallel and simultaneous. It’s up to investigators to figure out why and how the Coromandel Express careened off the tracks and collided with the freight trains, he said.
He went on to say that two of the coaches from the train that had derailed had fallen onto the two back coaches of the Horwah Superfast train, causing it to derail as well.
According to a press release issued by the government of Odisha, a total of 17 coaches from the two passenger trains were derailed and sustained significant damage.
Villagers from the surrounding region and eyewitnesses to the collision both mentioned hearing that there were three trains engaged in the collision.
According to Girija Shankar Rath, who lives close to the station and was one of the first individuals to arrive at the accident site, the Coromandel Express became derailed and hit the freight train that was parked on an adjacent track from behind. This information was provided to BBC Hindi.
The entire region was enveloped in smoke, and there was complete anarchy in the area. “And then we saw Shalimar Express which came hurtling down and hit some of the Coromandel wreckage, and also two of its coaches derailed,” he claimed. “And then we saw Shalimar Express.”
Tutu Biswas, a second witness, stated that he arrived at the scene after being drawn there by a loud noise.
Mr. Biswas explained that some of the carriages of the Coromandel Express had collided with the cargo train. “There were many injured individuals and bodies to be found in this area. I spoke with a young boy who had experienced the death of both of his parents. He was crying right before he passed away,” the witness continued.
The collision that occurred on Friday is one of the five accidents in the history of Indian railways that caused the most fatalities.
The rescue and recovery effort in pictures.
Atul Karwal, the chief of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), stated that the impact of the crash had caused several coaches to be crushed, and that rescue workers were required to cut through the wreckage in order to get the passengers.
At the scene, hundreds of ambulances, as well as surgeons, nurses, and other rescue personnel, worked nonstop for the better part of 18 hours to save passengers and extract bodies from the wreckage.
India boasts what is considered to be one of the world’s most extensive rail networks. It operates more than 12,000 passenger trains per day, which are utilised by tens of millions of passengers to travel throughout the country; nonetheless, there is a significant amount of the railway infrastructure that has to be improved.