Odisha Train Accident: 288 killed, around 900 injured

At least 288 people were killed and around 900others got injured when three trains collided one after another in a horrific sequence in Odisha’s Balasore district.

The train crash, one of the deadliest in the country, took place in Balasore district about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar around 7 pm on Friday, prompting the Railway Ministry to order a probe. Three trains – the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train were involved in the accident.

A South Eastern Railway official on Saturday informed that the rescue operations at the site have been completed.

An enquiry into the accident will be held by the commissioner of railway safety (CRS), South Eastern circle, the official said.

Meanwhile, Indian Railways spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said anti-train collision system ‘Kavach’ was not available on the route in Odisha’s Balasore.

“The rescue operation has been completed. Now, we are starting the restoration work. Kavach was not available on this route,” Amitabh Sharma said.

The railways is in the process of installing “Kavach” across its network. It alerts when a loco pilot jumps a signal (Signal Passed at Danger — SPAD), which is the leading cause of train collisions. The system can alert the loco pilot, take control of the brakes and bring the train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line within a prescribed distance.

(With inputs from PTI)

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