At least 55 people have died and another 600 have been injured this Friday after a multiple calf accident in Balasore, in the State of Odisha, in eastern India. The Howrah Superfast Express derailed and collided with the Coromandel Express, according to Reuters, citing a statement from public railway company authorities. “Some 50 people died and more than 500 were injured. Our priority now is to rescue [a los pasajeros] and treat the injured,” Odisha Governor Pradeep Jena told the AFP agency. Later, the politician raised the figure to more than 55 deaths and 600 injured, in statements to local media. The politician has also detailed that half a thousand ambulances have been mobilized, as well as several buses, noting that the medical vehicles were not enough to transfer the victims to the hospital.
The situation is very complex due to the seriousness of the event and the number of victims, some of them trapped between the convoys. Previously, local media had reported that a freight train had also been involved in the accident, although they later retracted it. Amitabh Sharma, executive director of Indian Railways, the national railway company of India operated by the Ministry of Railways, has confirmed to the AFP agency that there was a third train involved in the accident and “that it was parked” in the area of the incident.
“Concerned about the train accident in Odisha. At this time of mourning, my thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a message posted on Twitter. “[Espero] May the injured recover soon”, added the politician, who stated that he had a conversation with the Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is ultimately responsible for the transport network.
Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw and took stock of the situation. Rescue ops are underground at the site of the mishap and all…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 2, 2023
After the accident, rescue teams have been mobilized from Bhubaneswar, in Odisha, and Calcutta, in the State of West Bengal, explained the federal Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on his Twitter account. “The National Disaster Response Force, state government teams and the air force have also been mobilized to respond to the incident,” he added. Archana Joshi, general director of the South Eastern Railway, one of the 19 areas in which the network is organized, managed by the Ministry of Railways, has reported that a large number of injured were already being transferred to different hospitals. “Rescue teams have already arrived at the scene; relief efforts are underway,” Joshi added. South Eastern Railway officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said they fear there are “many more victims.”
Despite efforts to improve the safety of Indian trains, several hundred accidents occur each year. Its network, public and with 64,000 kilometers of tracks, is the largest in the world, managed centrally.
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