Sunday Jun 04, 2023
Signal failure is a potential cause of India's worst disaster in decades.
More bodies were moved to the school where it was used as a makeshift morgue.
The number of victims is likely to rise.
BAHANGA: Rescuers and families searched Sunday in mangled carriages for more victims of India's worst rail disaster in more than two decades, with a signal failure the likely cause.
At least 288 people died on Friday when a passenger train derailed and collided with another near Balasore district in the eastern state of Odisha.
Early Sunday morning, five more bodies were brought to the school, which was being used as a morgue, near the scene of the accident.
"We don't know how many more bodies will come," the medic said.
Indian Railways claims to transport more than 13 million people every day. But the state-run monopoly has patchy security due to an aging infrastructure.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces elections next year, visited the scene on Saturday to speak with rescue workers, survey the wreckage and meet some of the nearly 1,200 injured.
South Eastern Railway said a preliminary report indicated that the accident was the result of a signal failure.
The accident happened when one of the trains went off the main track onto a siding and collided with a stationary freight train, causing it to derail and then collide with a third oncoming train, said a railway official who declined to be identified. .
Passenger trains were moving at speeds close to 130 km/h (81 mph), the official said.
Workers with heavy equipment cleared the damaged track, wrecked trains and power cables as devastated relatives looked on.
"The police called us and asked us to come," said Baisakhi Dhar from West Bengal state as she searched for her husband Nikhil Dhar.
She said her husband's luggage and cellphone had been found, but she had no information on his whereabouts.
More than 1,000 people are involved in the rescue, the Ministry of Railways said on Twitter.
"The target is that by Wednesday morning the complete restoration work will be completed and the tracks should be functional," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
At the mall where the bodies are taken for identification, dozens of relatives were waiting, many crying and clutching identification cards and photos of missing loved ones.
Kanchan Choudhury, 49, was looking for her husband at the centre. Five people from her village were traveling in the train, four of whom were treated for injuries in hospital. However her husband was found dead, Kanchan Choudhury told Reuters as she cried as she waited to claim compensation at the center's counter, carrying her husband's identity cards.
The families of the dead will get one million Indian rupees ($12,000) as compensation, while the seriously injured will get INR 200,000 and ₹50,000 for minor injuries, Vaishnaw said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed their condolences to the survivors of the fatal train accident.
Deeply saddened by the loss of hundreds of lives in a train accident in India. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy. Prayers for speedy recovery of the injured.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 3, 2023
Saddened to learn of the high death toll in the tragic train accident in Odisha, India. Our condolences for the families of the victims. Wish speedy recovery to the injured. #BalasoreTrainAccident
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) June 3, 2023
The images and reports of the train crash in Odisha, India break my heart. I’m sending my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones, and I’m keeping the injured in my thoughts. At this difficult time, Canadians are standing with the people of India.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 3, 2023
My thoughts and prayers are with @narendramodi and with all affected by the tragic events in Odisha. My deepest condolences to the family and friends of those killed, and my heartfelt support and admiration to the survivors and those working tirelessly to respond.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 3, 2023
My deepest condolences to President Murmu, Prime Minister Modi and the people of India after the tragic train accident in Odisha. France stands in solidarity with you. My thoughts are with the families of the victims.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 3, 2023
