By India Blooms News Service Jun 03, 2023
Rescue workers struggled through wreckage and mangled coaches to recover bodies and look for survivors at the scene of one of the worst rail accidents in India as the toll from Friday nights train crash in Odisha climbed to 261.
Injured passengers, who were in the derailed Coromandel Express, have been taken to the hospitals of Gopalpur, Khantapara, Balasore, Bhadrak and Soro.
The rescue operation has completed at the derailment site and restoration work has begun, said the Railway Ministry.
More than 900 people have been injured in the mishap where three trains collided one after the other, causing one of the worst railway accidents in the country.
Railway Minister Aswani Vaishnaw on Saturday morning arrived at ground zero at Bahanaga station and reviewed the situation with senior railway officials, NDRF and ODRAF teams.
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The Railway Minister has already ordered a high-level inquiry into the accident.
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a state mourning on Saturday.
No state celebration would take place throughout the day.
Patnaik and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan are scheduled to reach the accident site on Saturday morning.
A technical team of the Railway made an aerial survey of the accident site early in the morning.
The Chief Secretary said three trains were involved in the accident. - Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel express, Yeshawantpur -Howrah express and a goods train.
As many as 15 coaches and one engine got derailed or capsized in the mishap at around 7 pm.