Odisha Train Tragedy: Injured Tally Revised To 1207; 198 Still Under Treatment, One Critical

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Monday revised the injured tally in the June 2 triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district from 1,175 to 1,207.

While 1,207 were admitted to different government and private hospitals in the state and 1009 have been discharged. Among the remaining 198, one patient is under critical care, according to the latest updates.

Earlier speaking to the media, Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said that 170 bodies (85 in Bhubaneswar and as many in Balasore) have been identified so far and are being handed over for transfer to destination after due process. “Arrangements for free transportation of the bodies by hearses/dead body carriers till destination have also been made to help the bereaved families, who are already under a lot of trauma,” he added.

Also Read: 170 Bodies Identified, Govt To Provide Free Transportation Till Destination: Chief Secy

The train accident, involving Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, at Bahanaga Bazaar station in Balasore on June 2 claimed 275 lives.

However, identification of bodies continued to be an uphill task. The bodies are in such bad conditions that the family members are finding it difficult to identify those. In some cases, two claimants have come forward for one body.  “Problems in identification of bodies usually happen in such a massive devastating tragedy. The state administration in coordination with officials of railway and government of India are jointly making all efforts to resolve the issues,” said Development Commissioner Anu Garg.

Also Read: Odisha Train Tragedy: Families Looking For Kin Struggle To Identify ‘Disfigured’ Bodies

On Sunday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had put the number of injured at 1,175 while briefing Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the latest situation, particularly on medical treatment of the rail accident victims.