Odisha triple train tragedy key points: Investigation done, root cause of accident identified

NEW DELHI: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw conducted a review of the restoration work at the site of the triple train collision in Balasore on Sunday. He stated that the root cause of the accident has been determined, and it is expected that the track will be fully restored by today.
The tragic Balasore train accident involved two passenger trains and a goods carriage, resulting in the loss of 288 lives and leaving over 1,000 individuals injured.
Odisha triple train tragedy: Live updates
According to the preliminary report on the tragedy, the three-way accident involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express, and a goods train on separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in Balasore district. Seventeen coaches of the two passenger trains were derailed and suffered severe damage in the accident that occurred on Friday evening.

'Probe completed, root cause identified'
The Commissioner Railway Safety has completed its inquiry into the tragic train accident in Odisha's Balasore district and the root cause has been identified, said Vaishnaw.
Vaishnaw, who was there at the accident spot and supervising the restoration work, said, "The Commissioner Railway Safety has completed his inquiry and will submit the report soon. The clear root cause of the tragic train accident has already been identified."

However, he did not reveal the cause behind the accident, which killed at least 288 people and left over 1,100 people injured.
'All resources have been mobilised to restore the tracks'
Vaishnaw said that the objective is to complete the restoration work by Wednesday morning.
"The cause of this accident has been identified. Prime Minister Modi inspected the site yesterday. We will make efforts to restore the track today. All the bodies have been removed. Our goal is to finish the restoration work by Wednesday morning, enabling trains to resume operations on this track," Vaishnaw said.

The Ministry of Railways had previously announced on Saturday that restoration work was being carried out expeditiously in Balasore, Odisha.
In a tweet, the Railways Ministry stated that officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site.
Team of doctors rushed to provide medical aid to injured
A team of doctors and experts from the AIIMS here and other central hospitals of Delhi have been rushed to Bhubaneswar through a special IAF flight to provide medical assistance to those injured in the deadly Odisha train accident, official sources said.
The team is carrying medicines and heavy critical care equipment, the sources said.
Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya is in Odisha and will visit the AIIMS Bhubaneswar and the Cuttack medical college on Sunday to take stock of medical assistance being provided to the victims of the train accident.
Doctors from AIIMS-Bhubaneswar were earlier dispatched to Balasore and Cuttack in Odisha to assist in the relief operations at the site of the train accident, Mandaviya had said.

Mi-17 helicopters deployed for evacuation
The Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed Mi-17 helicopters for the evacuation of the deceased and injured. The Eastern Command stated that the IAF coordinated rescue efforts with the civil administration and Indian Railways.
NDRF jawan on leave sent 1st accident alert, 'live location'
An on-leave NDRF jawan travelling on the Coromandel Express was perhaps the first person to alert emergency services about the train's accident in Odisha's Balasore before he joined initial rescue efforts, officials said.

The Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express entered the wrong track and hit a stationary goods train on Friday. Its coaches got scattered all around including on an adjoining track and another passenger train -- Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express -- coming at a high speed rammed into them and derailed.
PM Modi expresses gratitude to world leaders for condolence messages
PM Modi has expressed gratitude to the world leaders for their condolence messages on the Odisha train accident, saying that he was "deeply moved" by their kind words.
"Deeply moved by the condolence messages from world leaders on the train mishap in Odisha. Their kind words will give strength to the bereaved families. Gratitude for their support," he said in a late night tweet.
Several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emanuel Macron among others have condoled the tragic accident, in which 288 people lost their lives.

500 donors in 12 hours, blood bank turns volunteers away
The blood bank at the district hospital in Balasore was packed with donors through Friday night when hundreds of victims of the Coromandel Express accident were brought for treatment. On Saturday, authorities turned volunteers away as they had more than enough blood in stock. Many donors were women from self-help groups across the district.
Dozens of youngsters queued up for hours on Saturday and many more were heading for the hospital. Security staff at the hospital said people started coming as soon as news spread that a large number of victims were being admitted there and blood might be needed for treatment.

Found on the tracks, remains of the day: Love letters, poems, toys
A notebook with drawings in red, blue, green and violet on the left pages and handwritten poems of love on the right stood out among the tattered remains of personal belongings strewn on the tracks at Bahanaga, the site of Friday’s tragic three-train pile-up.
The unclaimed notebook found near a backpack and a waist pouch does not mention the poet’s name, neither makes any reference. The verses are addressed to no one in particular. Page after page, the poet wrote on love and yearning, trying to address the ups and downs of a relationship. Is the author alive? Nobody can tell.
School turns into morgue, locals post photos to help kin identify victims
With trepidation in their hearts and prayers on their lips, dozens of families from Bengal landed in Balasore on Saturday morning, looking for their loved ones whom they had been unable to contact since Friday evening.

For many of them, the search ended at a makeshift morgue, set up at Bahanaga High School, where bodies were brought in from the crash site. Throughout the day, hundreds of relatives waited for their turn to claim the bodies.
As most bodies were yet to be identified, locals gathered at the school clicked pictures and posted them online with hopes that their kin would be able to identify them. Public address system was used to announce the names of the deceased obtained from railway authorities to facilitate their identification by their kin.