Three trains were involved in a horrific accident in Odisha, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundreds on Friday, June 2. The triple train accident took place near Bahanaga Station in Odisha’s Balasore after several coaches of the Coromandel Express skid off the track.
“At around 7 pm, 10-12 coaches of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed near Balasore and fell on the opposite track. After some time, another train from Yesvantpur to Howrah dashed into those derailed coaches resulting in the derailment of its 3-4 coaches,” said railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma. The third train involved in the crash was a goods train.
Terming the accident “violent and tragic”, Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena told the media that the officials are yet to confirm the number of casualties and rescue operations underway. Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are involved in rescue operations. Four Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, over 15 fire rescue teams, several doctors, police personnel, and up to 60 ambulances have been deployed at the site of the accident.
The Coromandel Express – train number 12841 – usually departs from Kolkata Shalimar (SHM) station at 3.20 pm and reaches Chennai Central (MAS), known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Railway station the next day at 4.50 pm. It passes through 16 major stations, including Kharagpur, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Brahmapur, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, and Vijayawada junctions in a total of 25.30 journey hours.
SMVB Howrah Express – train number 12864 – starts from SMVB Bengaluru in Karnataka at around 10:35 am and reaches Howrah after travelling for 33 hours and 20 minutes at Howrah around 7:55 pm. It runs through 35 major stations including Katpadi, Tirupati, Renigunta, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Kharagpur junctions.