288 DEAD AND NEARLY 900 INJURED At BALASORE TRAIN ACCIDENT SITE. 10 LAKHS COMPENSATION TO EACH OF DECEASED FAMILY ANNOUNCED
About 288 passengers have died and nearly 900 injured with simple and grievous injuries being admitted in various hospitals and undergoing treatment. The Union railway minister Ashwani Vaishnav has reached the dreaded accidental spot at Balasor and has announced the ex gratia payment of Rs. 10 lakh to the bereaved families of each of the deceased, Rs 2 Lakhs to each of the grievously injured and Rs. 50000 to those injured with simple injuries. The Railway minister Ashwani Vaishnav who is on the accidental spot at Balasar expressed his deepest condolences on this tragedy and assured of every possible treatment. He also declared about the monetary compensation sanctioned by PMO. He said that a serious inquiry will be conducted in this massive tragedy to come to definite conclusion about technical snags or of negligence if any – so as to avoid the recurrence of such tragedies in future. Several dead bodies are still lying inside and under the damaged trains. The tragedy occurred yesterday at 4.30 PM when a train going to Chennai from Howrah rammed into the already derailed coaches of of another train which was going from Bengaluru to Kolkatta. The rescue operation is going unabatedly for the last more than twelve hours at the accident site at Balasore, Oddissa. The NDRF and SURFACE including state Police and various, NGOs etc are engaged in the hectic relief operation. This is the biggest tragedy of the year reveal sources. The president of India Mam Draupadi Murmu expressed her deepest condolences on this tragedy . She tweeted : Deeply anguished to know about the loss of lives in an unfortunate rail accident in Balasore, Odhisha. My heart goes out to the bereaved families. I pray for the success of rescue operations and quick recovery of the injured tweeted President.
Prime minister Narendra Modi in his tweet wrote : Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief , my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to Railway minister @AshwaniVaishnav and took stock of the situation . Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to the affected tweeted PM.
The union health minister also is very shocked having tweeted : Two teams of doctors from AIMS have been urgently dispatched for Balasore and Cuttack to assist in relief operations at the rail accident site at Odisha. We are providing all required help and medical assistance to the victims of tge tragic train accident to save precious lives tweeted union health minister.
The former Congress president Sonia Gandhi tweeted : Deeply saddened by the tragic train accident in Odisha. My prayers and thoughts are with the bereaved families. Strength and speedy recovery to the injured said Sonia Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi who is in United States also expressed his, serious concerns and anguish over this, tragedy tweeting : Anguished by the tragic news of the accident involving the Coromandal Express, in Balasore, Odisha. My heart goes out to the bereaved families. Wishing for the speedy recovery of those injured tweeted Rahul Gandhi.
