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Tag: Odisha Train Tragedy

  • Odisha train tragedy: CBI produces 3 accused before court, apply to taken on 5-day remand

    Odisha train tragedy: CBI produces 3 accused before court, apply to taken on 5-day remand

    Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) produced the three persons, who were arrested in connection with the deadly Balasore train accident that took place on June 2, before the special CBI court here this evening.

    The investigation agency also applied to take the accused persons – senior Section engineer Arun Kumar Mohanta, section engineer Mohammad Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar- on a five-day remand to question them over the tragic accident.
    They have been arrested under sections 304 and 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

    Nearly 295 people were killed while over 1,100 others were injured following a triple train mishap at Bahanaga railway station in the Balasore district on June 2. The three trains which were involved in the accident are the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, and a goods train.

  • Odisha Train Tragedy: CBI Questions Signal JE Amir Khan At His ‘Sealed’ Rented House

    Odisha Train Tragedy: CBI Questions Signal JE Amir Khan At His ‘Sealed’ Rented House

    Balasore: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned Soro Signal Junior Engineer (JE) Amir Khan in connection with triple train accident at Bahanaga, at his rented house in Odisha’s Balasore, which was sealed by a five-member team of the central agency the previous morning.

    According to reports, the JE was initially interrogated by the CBI at an undisclosed location and the entire family was found missing when the team reached his house early on Monday. Some neighbours, however, said that the house had been locked ever since the accident.

    A senior Railway official told the Indian Express that the CBI team may bring the engineer for further interrogation to his house because of which it was sealed. It will be opened in his presence, the official added.

    South Eastern Railway also denied media reports that one of the staff is missing/absconding. “It is to be clarified that all the staff are part of CBI and CRS enquiry. None of the staff are missing/absconding.”

    ROLE OF SIGNAL JE

    The signal JE is responsible for installation, maintenance, and repair of signalling equipment, including signals, track circuits, point machines, and interlocking systems. Overall, they play a critical role in ensuring  the safety of train operations.

    It is worth noting that the role of a signal JE may vary depending on the particular division or zone within the Indian Railways.

    The CBI had taken over the investigation on June 6 amid allegations of tampering with the electronic interlocking system. Railway officials had hinted at “deliberate interference with the electronic interlocking system. “You get green signal only after fulfilling all the pre-conditions such as whether the route is set and everything is right. Even if there is a minor problem, technically, there cannot be a green signal in any circumstance; it becomes red. It can’t go green unless and until someone has tampered with it, someone has physically tampered with it,” Divisional Railway Manager (DRM)of Khurda, Rinkesh Roy told the media.

    The agency had earlier sealed the relay room, panel and other equipment at the Bahanaga Bazar railway station and seized  book and digital logs before and after the accident from the record room for forensic examination. The relay interlocking panel was also sealed, resulting in the suspension of employee access to the signaling system and train operations at Bahanaga Bazar station.

    They had also interrogated a number of Railway officials, including the staff posted at accident spot and seized their mobile phones.

    The tragic accident, involving Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, a stationary goods train and Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, has claimed 292 lives so far.

  • Yet another Odisha train tragedy victim dies, toll rises to 292

    Yet another Odisha train tragedy victim dies, toll rises to 292

    Balasore: Yet another injured person has died in the Bahanga train accident. The death toll in the accident has reached 292.

    Another injured person who was being treated at the Cuttack SCB Medical College and Hospital in Bhubaneswar has died.

    The deceased has been identified as Patu Naskar from West Bengal.

    The 26-year-old youth Patu Naskar, who was seriously injured in the Coromandel train accident, was being treated in the trauma ICU.

    Another victim of the horrific Balasore train accidenthad succumbed on June 17, succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack.

    The deceased hailed from Bihar and was 37 years old. He was undergoing treatment at the Trauma ICU of the SCB Hospital. According to the doctor’s report, the deceased also had some kidney-related alignment.

    Earlier, two others who were injured in the horrific Balasore train accident succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at SCB Medicals, Cuttack.

  • Railway Minister to visit Balasore to meet those who helped during Odisha train tragedy

    Railway Minister to visit Balasore to meet those who helped during Odisha train tragedy

    New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will visit Balasore to meet people who helped during the horrific train accident in Odisha. He is scheduled to visit Balasore on June 21.

    According to sources, Railway Minister will be holding multiple meetings with the authorities who looked after the victims of the deadly Bahanaga train mishap.

    Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stayed at the accident spot for over 51 hours and kept an eye on the rescue of the victims, restoration of tracks, and other help needed during the fatal time.

    He also added that a detailed high-level inquiry will be conducted and the rail safety commissioner will also carry out an independent inquiry into the accident deemed as one of the worst the country has witnessed in the last 15 years.

    It is pertinent to note here that 290 people lost their lives in the tragic Coromandel train accident on the evening of June 2. 1,175 passengers were left injured.

    As per the report total of 1175 injured persons were admitted to various government and private hospitals. Out of the total, 793 have been discharged after treatment. Currently, 382 passengers are now undergoing treatment in various government and private hospitals. The condition of two of them is said to be critical. Two of the total injured succumbed to injuries at the SCB Medical College and Hospital.

  • Sukesh Chandrashekhar urges Railways Minister to accept Rs 10 cr donation for Odisha train tragedy victims

    Sukesh Chandrashekhar urges Railways Minister to accept Rs 10 cr donation for Odisha train tragedy victims

    New Delhi: Incarcerated alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar has written a letter to Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging him to accept a donation of Rs 10 crore as a contribution towards victims of the June 2 Odisha train tragedy in which 288 people lost their lives.

    “The said contribution is from my personal funds which is from my legitimate source of earning, which is, completely taxed, and the documentation along with returns filings shall be furnished along with the said demand draft of Rs 10 crore,” Chandrashekhar, who is currently lodged at the Mandoli Jail, said in the letter written on Friday.

    “As our government is already providing all the needful to the affected, I, as a responsible and good citizen, am contributing this fund of Rs 10 crore to be used specifically for those families/children, our future youth, who have lost their loved one/ breadwinners of their family towards their education expenses.

    “The contribution to be specifically used for that every child of the deceased for their education expenses, be it school, high school, college education,” he said.

    “As per this very minimum on daily basis my organisation namely Sharadha Foundation, Chandrashekhar Cancer Foundation, LS Education, has been contributing for sections of health care, education and mainly food contribution, for the needy, to make sure no one goes hungry, across five states of Southern India.

    “Sir I humbly, as mentioned, request to accept the contribution for the said purpose, specifically and kindly direct us the details of the concerned department. The Demand Draft should be prepared so that the same shall be prepared immediately and submitted by us on priority,” he concluded.

  • Weeks Before Odisha Train Tragedy, Railways Listed 5 Close Shaves, Pulled Up Staff For Using ‘Short-Cuts’

    Weeks Before Odisha Train Tragedy, Railways Listed 5 Close Shaves, Pulled Up Staff For Using ‘Short-Cuts’

    Bhubaneswar: Couple of months before the June 2 Odisha train tragedy, the Railway Board had in April had pulled up signalling staffers for using “short-cuts” for reconnecting the signalling gear after maintenance work without proper testing of points.

    The practice, involving “reconnecting signalling gear without proper testing of points” and “wrong wiring during preparatory works” during maintenance, was highlighted in a letter by Railway Board Member (Infrastructure) RN Sunkar on April 3, which cited five incidents in the current calendar year from various zones, reports said.

    According to the letter, the signalling gears were reconnected by signal and telecom staffers without proper testing of points after blocks for switch/turnout replacement, wrong wiring during preparatory works, attending signal failures etc. Such practices reflect dilution of manual and codal provisions and is a potential hazard to safety in train operations and needs to be stopped, it said.

    It mentioned about Rajya Rani Express entering washing line area instead of Lucknow junction station; derailment a local train, heading towards platform number one of Kharkopar (Mumbai), over emergency crossover; derailment of a locomotive engine of Sarbat Da Bhala Express at Ludhiana station during reverse; a goods train traversing to wrong track from emergency crossover at Bagratawa railway station (Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh), Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express being given wrong track while it was on loop line to continue its journey towards Hazrat Nizamuddin. This incidents were reported between January 27 and March 22 this year.

    “The five incidents indicate that despite repeated instructions, signaling staff are continuing to adopt short cut methods. Officers and staff need to be sensitised to ensure integrity of the signaling system being of utmost importance,” it added.

    The letter went viral after being tweeted by Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday.

    The railway minister as well as officials had hinted at signal interference as a possible cause of a horrific crash, involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers, and a goods train, which claimed 288 lives. It was India’s worst rail crash in two decades.

  • Odisha train tragedy: Injured undergoing treatment at SCB succumbs

    Odisha train tragedy: Injured undergoing treatment at SCB succumbs

    Cuttack: One of the injured in the horrific Balasore train accident succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment in SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack.

    The deceased has been identified as Bijaya Paswan of Bihar. According to sources, after the accident, Bijaya was rushed to SCB Hospital in Cuttack. He was undergoing treatment at the central ICU ward of the hospital. However, he succumbed to injuries on Tuesday morning. He is the first among all the injured passengers to succumb.

    On the other hand, CBI is probing for the cause of the Bahanaga train accident. CBI is also looking at whether it is a human-made error or mechanical error or if is there a bigger conspiracy behind the triple train tragedy. The Central Investigation Agency will conduct a thorough investigation in this regard.

    It is to be noted here that 275 people were killed while over 1,100 others were injured following a triple train mishap at Bahanaga railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district on June 2. The three trains which were involved in the accident are the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, and a goods train.

  • Odisha train tragedy: Man meets son in Bhubaneswar after 1 week!

    Odisha train tragedy: Man meets son in Bhubaneswar after 1 week!

    Bhubaneswar: Today a man met his son, his son was missing since the tragic Odisha train accident which took place on June 2, 2023 (Friday)

    It is worth mentioning that the boy was injured in the triple train accident in Bananaga of Balasore in Odosha. The son Dulal Majumdar was referred from Balasore and was admitted with traumatic brain injury with frontal contusion and subdural Hematoma.

    He was initially conscious but confused. The patient was kept under close observation with medications. However as there was clinical deterioration and increase in brain swelling and masse effect on repeat scan , patient was taken for surgery.

    Decompressive craniectomy and Hematoma evacuation was done. The patient improved following surgery and was weaned off from ventilator and extubated. Dulal Majumdar is now stable and shifted to the ward and is able to speak and now recognised his father who has been reunited with him today.

    The hospital informed that all treatment was free of cost and patient is responding well to treatment. Father of Subash from Assam today met his missing son after the unfortunate Balasore Train Tragedy.

    AIl India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar officials were in regular communication with his relatives so that they could come to Bhubaneswar and meet him.

  • Odisha Train Tragedy: School Doubling Up As Morgue To Be Reconstructed Under 5T Initiative

    Odisha Train Tragedy: School Doubling Up As Morgue To Be Reconstructed Under 5T Initiative

    Bhubaneswar: The 65-year-old Bahanaga High School in Odisha’s Balasore district, where bodies of train accident victims were kept, will be completely demolished and reconstructed under the 5T initiative of the Odisha government, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced on Friday.

    The decision was taken after Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena, 5T Secretary VK Pandian, and other concerned officials held meeting with Balasore Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde, members of the school managing committee, panchayat representatives, teachers and students via videoconferencing to seek their opinion in this regard.

    The demolition work started this morning in the presence of school managing committee members and Works Department authorities.

    Students and teachers had expressed reluctance to attend school, where classrooms and the hall were used to line up the bodies, many of them disfigured, despite those being cleaned and sanitised by Fire Service personnel with memories of nightmarish experience of the tragedy deeply entrenched in their minds. With locals alleging that the rooms still had bloodstains at some places, the authorities feared that the school might see zero attendance once it reopened after summer vacation.

    “Considering children’s mental health, a decision was taken in the meeting to demolish Bahanga Bazar High School and the primary and elementary schools in its vicinity. It will be developed into a model school under 5T initiative,” Pandian said.

    Awareness programmes will also be conducted for the students to eradicate their fear regarding the building.

    Notably, bodies of Bahanaga Bazar train accident victims were shifted to the school immediately after being retrieved from the mangled coaches. Those were later were relocated to a spacious building on the outskirts of Balasore town. Later the unidentified corpses were shifted to morgues in Bhubaneswar-based hospitals.

  • Odisha train tragedy: Demolition of Bahanaga high school underway

    Odisha train tragedy: Demolition of Bahanaga high school underway

    Balasore: The demolition of the Bahanaga high school in Balasore where bodies of the Odisha train tragedy victims were kept as a transit place is underway. The high school is being demolished in the presence of the Tehsildar and police.

    As per reports, the building had been used as a makeshift morgue sanctification 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.

    The villagers decided to sanctify the place. A priest 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 are now closed for the summer vacation. They are scheduled to reopen on June 19, 2023, after Raja Sankranti. The students and teachers are scared to return to the school, said reports.

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

    According to the reports, the Balasore Collector visited the school on Thursday and inspected the school premises.