BHUBANESWAR: According to federal authorities in the northeast Indian state of Odisha, two passenger trains collided on Friday, June 2, causing the deadliest road accident in India in more than a decade. At least 207 people were killed and 900 were injured.
According to state Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena in a message, the death toll is anticipated to rise.
207 body have been found so far, according to Sudhanshu Sarangi, the fire department’s director general in Odisha.
Rescuers were seen searching for survivors by scaling the mutilated crash of one of the trains in images taken at the scene. Social media videos depicted the appearance of several ambulances and the removal of people from the turned-over coach coaches.
An eyewitness told Reuters over the phone,” I was there at the scene and I can see blood, broken limbs, and people dying around me.”
In Odisha’s Soro, hundreds of young individuals gathered in front of a government clinic to donate blood.
Federal Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw stated in a message late on Friday that rescue teams have been sent from Odisha’s Bhubaneswar and Kolkata in West Bengal.
At the scene of the accident, three National Disaster Response Force clubs are present, and six more are being mobilized, according to the nation’s national disaster response power.
According to rail officers, the incident happened around 7 p.m. local time when the Coromandel Express, which travels from Kolkata to Chennai, derailed and became entangled with the Howrah Superfast Express. The Express is a train that runs from Bangalore to Howran, West Bengal.
Authorities’ top priority, according to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, was” moving the living to the institutions.”
According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet, rescue operations were ongoing at the scene and” all possible help” was being provided to those affected.