Odisha train accident: PM Modi will meet with injured people at hospitals in Cuttack, his office tweeted.
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited the train accident site in Odisha’s Balasore. He will meet with injured people at hospitals in Cuttack, his office tweeted. The PM was seen inspecting the site with fellow cabinet colleagues, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
PM Modi landed in an Air Force chopper near the site of the incident at Bahanaga Bazar Station in Balasore district, about 170 km north of Bhubaneswar. He will visit the injured at the Balasore District Hospital to meet the crash survivors.
Earlier today, PM Modi convened a meeting to review the situation in connection with the rail accident in which 261 people were killed last night. Over 900 were injured.
Three trains had collided after one of the train’s coaches derailed in Balasore at 7 pm on Friday.
The crash involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also on a visit to the state to take stock of the situation and meet the injured in hospitals. Her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik also visited Balasore this morning and reviewed the situation with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The rescue operation in the horrific train accident is complete, and the restoration work has started, railways spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said this afternoon, about 18 hours after the horrific collision.
The crash saw one train ram so hard into the other that carriages were lifted high into the air, twisting and then smashing off the tracks. Another carriage had been tossed entirely onto its roof, crushing the passenger section. Over 3,400 passengers were travelling in two trains, according to railway officials.
The Railways Ministry has ordered a high-level probe into how the accident happened. The ministry has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of those who have died, and Rs 2 lakh for those seriously injured. PM Modi has also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the family of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the PM’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
