Odisha Train Accident: Track Restoration Work Gains Pace In Balasore; Check Pics
Indian Railways has intensified track restoration work in Odisha's Balasore, where 288 people were killed and over 1000 injured in the horrific accident involving three trains on Friday night. The three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods train on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in the Balasore district.
1000+ Manpower At Spot
In a tweet, the Ministry of Railways said that the officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site. "Restoration work is ongoing at Warfooting at the train accident site in Balasore, Odisha with 1000+ Manpower working tirelessly. At present, more than 7 Poclain Machines, 2 Accident Relief Trains, and 3-4 Railway and Road Cranes have been deployed for early restoration. Officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site," read the post on the official Twitter handle of the Railways ministry.
Work To Join Rail Track
Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), at South Eastern Railway said that the restoration work is underway at the site. "Capsized bogies have been removed...2 bogies of goods train also have been removed...work of connecting track is going on from one side...will finish the work as soon as possible," he said.
Normal Train Movement By June 7
Special Trains For Passengers
A special train carrying the affected passengers from Balasore arrived at Chennai MGR Central Railway Station. Work on repairing tracks and overhead electric lines which had snapped is also going on, said officials. "We have teams working round the clock. Restoring at least two lines -up and down - is absolutely essential as quickly as possible," a senior railway official at the site said.
NDRF-ODRAF Involved In Rescue
Seven National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Teams, five Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) Units and 24 Fire Services and Emergency units were involved in rescue operations. A special train from Balasore carrying passengers affected by the horrific accident and derailment on Friday, arrived in Chennai in the wee hours of Sunday, informed officials.
IAF Deployed Mi-17 Helicopters
Passenger Traffic Remains Affected
The triple train pile-up near Balasore on Friday disrupted passenger and goods traffic between important industrial centres. Many of the patients initially admitted to Balasore and other local hospitals have been released or shifted to bigger cities with multi-speciality hospitals including Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.