Railway minister said last year we have launched an automatic train protection system (ATPS) called Rail Kavach that will detect if there are two trains on the same track and it will apply brakes automatically, however this SIL4 certified anti-collision technology did not prevent the train accident in Odisha.
This is one of the worst rail accidents which took place between Coromandel express, another passenger train and a goods train near Balasore district of Bahanaga railway station. Hundreds of people were injured and more than 200 people were dead in this collision.
Pradeep Jena, state chief secretary tweeted about this accident that, “About 233 people have died in this accident and 900 people are injured, around 115 ambulances and many fire service units were included in this rescue plan. Almost 500 units of blood have been collected overnight and currently 900 units of blood are in the stock which will help to treat the injured people. He said that he is grateful for all the volunteers who came forward to donate blood and help the victims”.
In a press conference Jena said, ‘The number of victims of train accidents is expected to increase and the team members have planned to carry out the colossal rescue operation’.
Jena said that ‘they have not yet thought of questioning about the incident, rather they are working at sending the vehicles, buses, ambulances and additional doctors to the accident spot. He said that the cause of this disaster is yet to be resolved and he said that the main focus of the team now is the rescue operation’.
The images and videos from the incident spot showed the attempt of the rescuers to find the survivors inside the destroyed railway carriages. The footage also showed the people’s struggle on climbing the damaged train coaches tangled across the railway tracks.
The authorities said that this deadly rail crash happened when the passenger train collided with the coaches which were already dumped onto the opposite tracks.
Railway Spokesperson Mr.Amitabh Sharma told to the reporters that, ‘Coromandel Express which travels from Shalimar to Chennai tossed onto the opposite track and 10-12 coaches were damaged in Balasore, one more train which runs from Yeshwanthpur to Howrah reached this station after some time and dashed the damaged railway coaches which resulted in the damage of 3-4 coaches.
The authorities said, Chief Minister of Odisha Mr.Naveen Patnaik will visit the accident spot and review the scenario on Saturday.
India’s Minister of Communications, Railways and IT made an announcement that the families of those who died due to the rail crash will receive an amount of 10 lakhs, severely injured people will get ₹2 lakhs and Rs.50,000 to those with minor injuries.
