Railway officials and the state administration of Odisha are yet to start identifying the number of casualties from the two trains involved in a massive mishap on Friday, June 2. According to South Western Railways, two people have died in the SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Express. An SWR official said that two general compartments and one brake van compartment were involved in the derailment. “Two people have died in the unreserved compartment. No casualties were reported from the reserved compartment. As of now, we have no contact information on those who died as they were travelling in the unreserved compartment and we do not collect any personal information while ticketing. We are still waiting for information from Odisha officials and South Eastern Railways, we will proceed on this,” he said.
A railway official told TNM that all bodies have been taken to different hospitals in Balasore and Cuttack, but there is no official count of how many passengers died on which train. The railway official said that the next task was to identify the bodies and to ensure that they are handed over to the right family members.
South Western Railways told TNM there were 994 reserved passengers and around 300 unreserved passengers who boarded the train number 12864 SMVB-HWH at the Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal, Bengaluru. Two passengers are feared dead so far on the train.
The government of Odisha is handing over the bodies of identified people to relatives or transporting them to respective destinations after autopsy. Families have to show proof of identification of the deceased persons to claim their bodies. Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said that for the unidentified ones, a statutory procedure will be followed, according to ANI.
Three general bogies of the Yeshwantpur Express were damaged in the massive train collision that happened in Balasore of Odisha on the evening of June 2, Friday, killing 270 people and injuring more than 900 others. The train reportedly collided with the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express which had already derailed after hitting a goods train in Balasore. The SMVB-HWH Express, headed to Howrah, was running more than four hours behind schedule when it reached Balasore.