Oxygen container on train leaks at Odisha's Kesinga station en route to Chennai

BHAWANIPATNA/BHUBANESWAR: An oxygen container leaked at Kesinga railway station while being transported by train to Chennai in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Sources said the loco pilot of the goods train that was carrying 10 containers from Rourkela spotted the leak when it arrived at Kesinga in Kalahandi district at about 2 am.

He raised an alarm and informed the station master. A team of railway engineers and technicians from Rourkela rushed to the railway station to plug the leakage.

A seven-member team of the Odisha Fire Service led by Deputy Fire Officer (DFO) Sarat Chandra Mallick also reached Kesinga railway station.

Preliminary investigations revealed the leakage was reported in the sixth container possibly due to some technical issues with the container's valve.

"As the information on oxygen leakage reached, fire personnel and district officials rushed to Kesinga railway station to take stock of the situation. Technicians rectified the snags in the container," said Kalahandi SP Saravana Vivek M.

The train left Kesinga railway station between 11.30 am and 12 noon after the container was repaired, said Mallick.

So far, at least 1541 tankers/containers carrying 28594.68 metric tonnes of medical oxygen have been dispatched under escort/supervision of Odisha Police from Rourkela, Jajpur, Dhenkanal and Angul districts to 17 states and Union territories in the country.