Odisha train accident: 137 passengers from Tamil Nadu traced, found safe; 3 hospitalised

CHENNAI: All the 137 passengers from Tamil Nadu in the ill-fated Coromandel Express which was involved in the horrific accident in Balasore district of Odisha on Friday have been traced and found to be safe, state government officials confirmed.
Tamil Nadu sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin along with state transport minister S S Sivasankar, who went to Odisha to oversee the relief and rescue operations, returned to Chennai on Sunday evening. Udhayanidhi told reporters that passengers from Tamil Nadu were safe. Both the ministers called on chief minister M K Stalin and briefed him about the ongoing rescue operations in Odisha.
According to the state government data, 137 people from Tamil Nadu travelled in the Coromandel Express bound for Chennai and until morning, the state government established contacts with 119 people. Only eight people could not be traced, but by evening, all eight were found to be safe. "The Odisha government established a special call centre and helpline numbers were provided. When we inquired at the call centre, there were no calls of missing people from Tamil Nadu," said Udhayanidhi.
Six teams of docs, paramedics kept ready at Central with stretchers, wheelchairs
"The Odisha government established a special call centre and helpline numbers were provided. When we inquired at the call centre, there were no calls of missing people from Tamil Nadu. We visited the mortuaries and checked but none of the passengers, who died in the accident, were from Tamil Nadu," said Udhayanidhi.
"Among the eight, we spoke to Naragani Gopi and Jagadeesan and found them to be safe. The rest Arun, Kalpana, Kamal, Meena, Ragunathan and Karthick are safe as well, according to the fellow passengers who travelled with them and who informed the railway police in Odisha. The coaches in which they travelled, such as B3, B4, B7, B9, S1 and S2 were not damaged in the accident," said Udhayanidhi.
Earlier in the day, minister for revenue and disaster management K K S S R Ramachandran and health minister Ma Subramanian received passengers, who reached Chennai central station by a special train. Ramachandran told reporters that out of 137, who travelled in the special train, three were admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) as in-patients.
Subramanian said though 294 people boarded the train on Saturday, 137 of them came to Chennai. Many others got off at different railway stations.
RGGGH dean Dr E Theranirajan, however, said four were admitted and three were discharged against medical advice. Only one person Dharani, from Kasimedu, sustained head injuries but he was also safe. "He is conscious, coherent, and stable. He will be under observation for at least 24 hours," Theranirajan said.
Six teams of doctors, nurses and paramedics waited at platform number 11 in Chennai central with stretchers, wheelchairs, crash carts and essential drugs to attend to patients. The state government was informed that eight people with injuries were boarding the train from Odisha but at Chennai Central station 25 people sought help for minor injuries and health conditions.
"Some patients were ferried to the RGGGH by ambulances for x-ray and other check-ups and treatment. The passengers were from different districts, and some were from other states," the health minister said.
Seven buses of the state transport department and 50 taxis by the state police department were kept ready at the Chennai central railway station to transport passengers to their residences.