Tag: Odisha Train Accident

Odisha train crash: Bengal Teens shared name and tragic fate

BHUBANESWAR: They were in their early 20s and the best buddies in their village. They even shared the same name- Suman Roy. But little did they know they would meet the same fate and leave for the heavenly abode the same day. The two young men from West Bengal’s Arazi Lalchandpur village bordering Bangladesh were among 288 people who lost their lives in the tragic train crash at Bahanaga.

The youth were among five migrant labourers from their village heading for Chennai to work at a construction site. While the body of one Suman has already been identified and dispatched to his native place, the relatives of the other has arrived at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar to identify the body. Three others, who were injured, have been discharged from hospitals.

“We have already identified the body from the photographs displayed near the help desk. But we are unable to find it as the number on the photo and the token number provided to us to receive the body from the stored container is not matching. We are verifying it again with the records available,” said Suman’s brother Jeet Kumar Roy.

“The two friends had boarded the train from Howrah. This was their first journey as migrant labourers to the South Indian city. As some labourers from our village, already working in Chennai, had assured their work, they sounded happy as they were going to earn for the first time. Everything is shattered now,” said Jeet.

Arazi Lalchandpur village in Dakshin Dinajpur district has a population of around 800 and more than 200 among of them work as migrant labourers in different cities across the country. Like the two Sumans, several migrant labourers from West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha who had boarded the general compartment of the Coromandel Express have been killed in the train crash.

“Suman was the only bread earner of the family. He was working as a daily wager back home and as his earning was insufficient to manage the family, he decided to move to Chennai for better income. He is survived by his parents and two other younger siblings. How will they survive,” asked Pradut Roy, his cousin.

June 8, 2023
CHSE Odisha declares +2 Arts & Vocational results, check result here

CHSE Odisha has published the Plus 2 Arts results the pass percentage stands at 78.88%

Earlier on May 31, the Plus Two Science and Commerce results were announced. While the pass percentage of the Science stream was 83.9%, the pass percentage of the Commerce stream was 81.12%. Last year, the pass percentage of the Science stream was 94.12% and the Commerce stream was 89.10%.

It is to be noted here that the Plus-2 exams were held between March 1 and April 5. Around 3.56 lakh students appeared for the examination in a total of 1145 exam centers across the State.

Later, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) conducted the evaluation of the answer sheets in two phases. While the first phase of the evaluation was done from April 10 to 22, the second phase was held between April 23 and May 7.

June 8, 2023
Odisha train tragedy: Bahanaga high school to be demolished!

Balasore: The Bahanaga high school in Balasore where bodies of the Odisha train tragedy victims were kept as a transit place is likely to be demolished.

As per reports, since the building had been used as a makeshift morgue sanctification will be done in the Bahanga high school. The Bahanga school near the accident site was turned into a mortuary. The body of the deceased was kept in the school.

Now the villagers have decided to sanctify the place. A saint has been entrusted with this responsibility. This step has been taken so that the children do not get scared after the opening of the school.

It is worth mentioning that, the schools in Odisha area now closed for the summer vacation but, they are scheduled to reopen on June 19, 2023 that is after Raja Sankranti. The students and teachers are sacred to return to the school, said reports.

The Bahanaga High School building where bodies of train accident victims were kept will be demolished if school managing committee deems it fit. The school committee has been asked to intimate its decision following which steps will be taken, said the Balasore Collector.

According the reports, the Balasore Collector had visited the school earlier today and inspected the school premises. Detailed report awaited.

June 8, 2023
Odisha train accident: 111 bodies identified, informs BMC commissioner

Bhubaneswar: Nearly 111 bodies have been identified and handed over to their families, informed Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange.

He also informed that 82 bodies are kept at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar.

At least 275 lives were lost in the Bhanaga train tragedy, which took place in the Balasore district of Odisha on Friday, June 2, 2023.

It is worth mentioning that, so far 205 dead bodies have been identified and handed over. The remaining 82 bodies have not been handed over yet.

All the bodies are now stored in Bhubaneswar AIIMS. The relatives have been asked to come to Bhubaneswar AIIMS instead of going to other hospitals to identify the deceased. This is the information given by the East coast railway. People are identifying their relatives and friends by looking at the photos and albums released by AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

The photographs of the deceased have also been sent to various divisional and zonal headquarters of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu for identifying the bodies.

DNA tests are being done on the dead bodies which are difficult to identify. Samples are being collected for DNA tests at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Helpline number 8280346629 has been issued for this DNA identification. Relatives can contact for a DNA test by calling this number. After receiving the report, the dead body will be handed over to the concerned family members.

June 8, 2023
Odisha train accident: AI, SIM card triangulation used to identify unclaimed bodies

New Delhi: The Railways is using an artificial intelligence-powered website and SIM card triangulation to identify the unclaimed bodies of the Odisha three train crash victims.

Of the 288 people killed in the accident on June 2, as many as 83 bodies remained unclaimed as of Wednesday, officials said. The Railways initially called a team from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to the site to take thumbprints of the dead to ascertain their identity.

“That did not work out since in most cases the skin of the thumbs were damaged and prints were difficult to take. Then we thought of identifying the bodies using Sanchar Saathi which is an AI-based portal,” an official said.

The recently launched Sanchar Saathi web portal was put to use to identify 64 bodies and it was successful in 45 cases, officials said.

Sanchar Saathi allows customers to know the mobile connections issued in their name and also track and block their lost smartphones. This artificial intelligence-based portal was recently launched by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who also holds the information and technology portfolio.

To identify the bodies of the train accident victims, the portal traced the victims’ phone numbers and Aadhaar details using their photographs. Following this, their family members were contacted, officials said.

However, it was an uphill task as many of these bodies were beyond recognition.

“Some have no identifiable features left. It is difficult to identify them even from their clothes since they are caked with blood,” an officer said.

Railway officials are also hoping to identify some bodies by using cellphone impressions around the accident sites.

By tracing calls made through nearby towers just before the accident and linking them to those which shut down immediately at the time of the crash, the Railways is trying to figure out if they belonged to the unidentified victims.

“We are trying to trace phones which were active just before the accident and shut down as soon as it happened.

“So far, out of the 45 unclaimed bodies we are trying to trace through this method, we found 15 phones which were switched off but those were of survivors. We are still trying to trace the other 30,” an official said.

The Railways made mammoth efforts to complete its rescue and restoration work in 51 hours. The ministry deployed eight teams, each comprising 70 personnel and headed by an officer for the operation. DRMs and GMs supervised four teams each.

Five cameras transmitted live to Rail Bhawan where it was monitored from the war room. The teams and officers did eight-hour shifts and took adequate breaks, officials said.

The ministry claimed that the 51 hours taken to restore the affected section was less than the time taken in Greece where officials took five weeks to restore the tracks following a collision between a passenger train and a freight train on February 28 this year.

It took 24 days for officials in Germany’s Hannover to complete the restoration work following a collision between two goods trains in 2022. Taiwanese officials took 17 days to complete restoration work following a train derailment in the Qingshui Tunnel of Hualien County, the railway ministry said.

June 7, 2023
World Environment Day: Odisha’s Gopalpur Port Launches Massive Tree Plantation Drive

Following the murder of a toll plaza employee in Bidadi, police have asked the authorities to check the criminal record of toll staff. They have also issued guidelines on the physical appearance of toll plaza staff.

B R Ravikanthe Gowda, Inspector General of Police (Central), said: “Following the murder, I have given instructions to all the superintendents of police (SPs) and inspectors of all the police stations under the Central Range to have a meeting on toll staff about their behaviour. They will be instructed on how to behave with passengers. We will also set guidelines for them on their physical appearance such as hairstyle, dressing, etc. They should look decent and behave decently with the public. The jurisdictional police will give instructions to toll staff. The management will be instructed to get the employees’ antecedents checked by the police.”

The assault on car passengers was the main reason for the murder of a toll plaza employee in Bidadi on Sunday midnight, police investigation shows.

Police verified the CCTV footage of the toll. A mini goods vehicle auto which didn’t have FASTag was passing the toll. The staff were collecting money from the vehicle.

Four men in a car were behind the goods vehicle, all of them were under the influence of alcohol. As the staff was delaying the process of collecting money from the goods vehicle, the car-borne passengers got down from the vehicle and questioned the delay. In the heated argument, the toll staff assaulted the passengers. Since the toll staff numbers were more, the passengers left the place with a warning.

Later, two of the four came near the toll on a two-wheeler. They observed the movements of the deceased toll plaza employee, Pavan Kumar Nayak, who had beaten them more. When he and Manjunatha K left the toll office and went to have liquor near a lake, the duo followed them and attacked them with a wooden log which led to the death of Nayak while undergoing treatment in the hospital.

A senior officer said: “If the toll staff had not assaulted the passengers, the murder wouldn’t have taken place. We have ascertained the details of the killers and traced two others who were in the car but not at the murder spot. Their roles are being verified. All four are residents of Mysuru Road in the city. We are in touch with their family members and have instructed them to alert the police or make the accused surrender. Meanwhile, the efforts are on to nab the duo on the run.”

June 7, 2023
Odisha train accident: Woman fakes husband’s death for compensation

A woman who tried to fake her husband’s death in the Balasore train accident for compensation cash announced by the state government and Railways is in trouble. Gitanjali Datta of Maniabanda in Cuttack district had claimed that her husband Bijay Datta had died in the accident on June 2 and had even identified a body as her husband’s. However, after verification of documents, it was found that her claim was false.

Though police let her go with a warning, trouble started after her husband filed a complaint at Maniabandha police station. The woman has now gone into hiding fearing arrest, police said.

Police said the couple has been living separately for the last 13 years. Bijay has demanded stringent action against Gitanjali for attempting to grab public money and also faking his death. Maniabanda police station in-charge Basant Kumar Satpathy said police have asked Gitanjali’s husband to lodge a complaint at Bahanaga police station in Balasore district as the incident took place there.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary PK Jena asked the Railways and Odisha police to take stringent action against people making fake claimants over bodies.

Earlier, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for the next of kin of the deceased while Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh. On the other hand, the Railway Ministry has declared Rs 10 lakh compensation for the families of those who died in the accident.

The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches at 7 pm on June 2. In all, some 288 people died in the accident and more than 1,200 were injured. A few coaches of Coromandel toppled over the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time.

June 7, 2023
Coromandel Express all set to resume services after Odisha train tragedy

Bhubaneswar: Days after the frightening train accident which claimed lives of at least 275 people and left over 900 people injured the ill-fated Coromandel Express is all set to resume its services on June 7, 2023 as per its scheduled time.

The Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CRPO) Aditya Kumar Chaudhary on June 6, 2023 gave this update about the train timings.

In a tragic three way accident, two passenger trains and a good train collided with each other near Bahanaga Railway Station in Balasore on June 2, 2023.

Around 10-12 coaches of Coromandel Express derailed near Bahanaga Railway station and ‘infringed’ into the opposite track. Another train coming on the same track, side crashed into the derailed coaches of Coromandel Express and also got derailed.

It is worth mentioning that as many as 288 people lost their lives in the accident and as many as 1000 were injured.

Reportedly, the the down train from Chennai crossed the accident site at 30 kmph on Tuesday.
As many as 70 trains have passed through the accident site since the taring line was restored. There were a number of people who saw the train pass by.

June 7, 2023
Odisha train accident: DNA test to claim bodies in AIIMS Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: At least 288 lives were lost in the Bhanaga train tragedy, that took place in Balasore district of Odisha on Friday June 2, 2023.

It is worth mentioning that, so far 205 dead bodies have been identified and handed over. The remaining 83 bodies have not been handed over yet.

All the bodies are now stored in Bhubaneswar AIIMS. The relatives have been asked to come to Bhubaneswar AIIMS instead of going to other hospitals to identify the deceased. This is the information given by East coast railway.

As many a 193 dead bodies were brought from Balasore to Bhubaneswar. Out of them, 11 dead bodies have been identified. People are identifying their relatives and friends by looking at the photos and albums released by AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

The photographs of the deceased have also been sent to various divisional and zonal headquarters of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for identifying the bodies.

The DNA tests are being done on the dead bodies which are difficult to identify. Samples are being collected for DNA test at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Helpline number 8280346629 has been issued for this DNA identification. Relatives can contact for DNA test by calling this number. After receiving the report, the dead body will be handed over to the concerned family members.

June 7, 2023
Odisha train tragedy: 33 samples sent to Delhi for DNA testing

Bhubaneswar: Amid multiple claims for a single body, the Odisha government has sent 33 samples to AIIMS New Delhi for DNA testing for identification of the deceased.

While no one is there to claim some bodies, multiple families claim one body. As the bodies are in very bad condition, the family members are also facing difficulties in identification, said Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das.

Speaking to media persons, Sulochana pointed out, “We are making all out efforts so that the relatives can get bodies of their loved ones in a hassle-free manner.”

She informed that samples of 33 bodies and their claimants have been sent to AIIMS Delhi for DNA testing. Once the report is made available, the bodies will be handed over to genuine claimants, Das said.

The mayor further said that 39 bodies stored in mortuaries of other hospitals have been brought to AIIMS Bhubaneswar last night and now all 88 bodies, left for identification, have been preserved in four big containers.

A man from West Bengal alleged that his son’s body had been handed over to someone from Bihar two days back. Many others are unable to trace their loved ones who were travelling in the trains on June 2.

The state government has set up help desks at AIIMS and other hospitals where passengers are under treatment. The officials are extending all required help to the victims and their family members, said a senior official of Odisha government.

Arrangements for free transportation of the bodies by hearses till destination were made by the Odisha government, he said.

Meanwhile, train services have resumed on the tracks where the train tragedy took place on June 2 evening. A total of 56 trains have crossed this station towards the up direction & 67 towards the down direction, said Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, CPRO, South Eastern Railway.

There are 688 cases of compensation so far and Rs 19.26 crore have been disbursed till date. Inquiry is going on in full swing, he said.

(IANS)

June 7, 2023