Odisha Train Accident: More Than 100 Unclaimed Bodies ‘To Be Embalmed’; DNA Test Begins

Bhubaneswar: The Railways has put the official death toll in the June 2 triple train crash in Odisha’s Balasore district at 278 and 101 among them are yet to be identified.

“About 1,100 people were injured in the accident, out of which about 900 people were discharged after treatment. Around 200 people are being treated in various hospitals in the state. Out of 278 people who died in the accident, 101 bodies are yet to be identified,” Divisional Railway Manager of the Eastern Central Railways Rinkesh Roy told ANI.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Vijay Amrit Kulange said that 80 of 193 bodies kept in Bhubaneswar have been identified and 55 handed over to the relatives.

Meanwhile, more than 12 anatomy and forensic experts from AIIMS, Nagpur and Raipur, have been engaged in the process of preserving the unclaimed bodies through embalming. It is being done at overstretched mortuary of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, where only 64 of the 123 bodies received have been handed over to their families so far.

The hospital has also procured five containers from Paradip port to store the dead bodies for a longer period. “As no hospital has adequate deep freezers to keep so many bodies, we have brought five containers from Paradip port. In one container, we can keep around 30 to 40 bodies,” said AIIMS Bhubaneswar Executive Director, Ashutosh Biswas.

AIIMS-Bhubaneswar has also started DNA tests on the unclaimed 59 bodies. “We have collected 10 samples. A decision on whether to conduct the test here or outside the state will be taken today. The reports are expected in 6-7 days,” hospital superintendent Pravash Ranjan Tripathy said, adding that 41 bodies have been preserved in two containers.

Family member, who are not able to identify the body, can contact +918280346629 for DNA testing at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.

The Railways has also decided to assist the bereaved families till cremation. In addition, if and when the victims’ families desire to immerse the remains in the river, Railways will extend help in that too, Indian Express reported quoting top sources.