Restoration work ongoing at train accident site on war footing

Bhubaneswar: Restoration work at the Bahanaga Railway station where as many as 288 lives were lost and over 900 injured in a freak accident involving three trains is going on war footing.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishanaw who is present at the mishap site and personally supervising the restoration work since Saturday on Sunday said a target has been fixed to complete the restoration work and normalise the movement of trains by Wednesday morning.

Around 1,000 workers are engaged in the restoration work.

The Shalimar-Chennai Cormondel Express Collided with a goods train and Bengaluru -Howrah Superfast Express on Friday evening leading to a major accident at Bahanaga railway station in Balasore district.

As many as 21 mingled coaches were removed from the track late on Saturday night in the presence of the Railway Minister.

The track is cleared and at present work is on to lay a new track of around 1000 metres length completely which has been damaged in the accident.

Work is going on also to repair the electric poles and fix the overhead wire.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandalay is arriving in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

Soon after his arrival, he is scheduled to visit AIIMS, Bhubaneswar and SCB Medical College and Hospital where many seriously injured passengers are undergoing treatment.

He is scheduled to meet the injured and inquire about their health condition and discuss with the doctors and health officials about the treatment of patients.

Meanwhile, as many as 160 bodies were brought to Bhubaneswar and kept in the mortuaries of various hospitals in Bhubaneswar including AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

Arrangement has been made for helping the kin’s coming in search of their near and dear ones to identify the bodies and handed over the bodies to them. (UNI)