Odisha Triple Train Accident: In view of the heart-wrenching triple train accident in Odisha's Balasore, Pope Francis on Sunday condoled the loss of life in the tragedy that happened on June 2. The Odisha government revised the death toll to 275 from 288, and put the number of injuries at 1,175.
Pope Francis expresses grief
"My prayer go to the many victims of the train accident that occurred two days ago (June 2) in India. I express my closeness to the injured and their families. May the Heavenly Father welcome the souls of the deceased into his kingdom," said Pope Francis, reported Reuters.
Odisha Train Clash
Three trains— Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah super fast and a goods train — were involved in the accident on Friday, now being described as one of India’s worst train accidents. The Coromandel Express rammed into a stationary goods train and many of its carriages overturned including some onto another train - the Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express which was also passing by at the same time on Friday.
Death toll revised
Chief Secretary P K Jena on Sunday informed that some bodies were counted twice. "After detailed verification and a report by Balasore District Collector, the final toll has been fixed at 275," he said. "So far, 793 passengers have been discharged and 382 are being treated at government cost," he said.
The chief secretary said proper identification of the bodies was the biggest challenge. "DNA sampling will be done and photographs of the deceased will be uploaded on government websites," he said. As per the latest updates, 9 teams of NDRF, 5 ODRAF units and 24 fire services teams were engaged in the rescue operations, which are now complete.
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