Coromandel express accident: Death toll in Odisha train accident rises to 270

At least 270 people were killed and 900 injured when two express passenger trains and one for freight collided in India’s eastern Odisha state on Friday in one of the country’s worst rail accidents.

Adozen coachesof the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed after it became entangled with another passenger train near Bahanaga railway station in the state’s Balasore district, Indian Railways said. The freight train was on an adjoining track. The accident occurred at about 7pm.

“We have recovered 270 bodies so far,” Pradeep Kumar Jena, Odisha’s chief secretary, told The National.

“Rescue and relief work is continuing. About 900 injured to varying degrees.” He said the injured were being treated at hospitals in at least five districts. Rescue and relief workers had to cut open train carriages to pull out survivors and bodies.

Mr Jena said that one carriage that was severely damaged was still to be assessed. “It has been so badly damaged that a railway crane might be required,” he said. Bodies of the victims were being identified and released to relatives.

“All efforts are made to complete the autopsy and whichever bodies are identified will be handed over to kin or transported to respective destinations,” Mr Jena said.

Television footage showed rescue workers attempting to pull survivors out of upturned and mangled train carriages.

About 100 ambulances were sent to the scene. Buses were also used to take the injured to hospitals. Residents began donating blood for the injured early on Saturday.

The Coromandel Express train left from the eastern state of West Bengal at 3.30pm and was scheduled to reach the southern city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu on Saturday.

“I was fast asleep when I suddenly heard a thud,” one passenger told Asian News International.

“I held on to the ceiling fan. The train suddenly stopped and we got off. There was fire in the pantry.

“We saw some people did not have a leg, some lost their arms. It was a dangerous moment. Who do we save? My brain stopped working.”

More than 40 trains were cancelled and at least 30 diverted following the accident.

“Preliminary reports have revealed that several compartments went off the rails. Medical teams rushed to the spot,” said Aditya Kumar Chowdhury, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief and promised assistance.

“Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Mr Modi said on Twitter. “May the injured recover soon.”

Mr Modi said he had spoken to Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and “all possible assistance” was being offered.

Mr Vaishnav reached the site on Saturday morning and said an inquiry had been set up “to understand the root cause of the accident”.

He also announced compensation of one million rupees ($12,000) to the families of the dead, 200,000 rupees for those seriously hurt and 50,000 rupees for those with minor injuries.