Coromandel accident: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stresses on rescue and treatment of passengers

The Railway Minister said at present the focus is on the rescue and treatment of the injured.

He expressed his grief over the people in the accident and expressed his sympathies to the bereaved families.

The Railway Minister said a committee will be formed to inquire into the incident. He said a high-level inquiry has been ordered into the incident and complete investigation would be made.

He said the Railway Safety Commissioner will soon visit the site to assess the situation.

Odisha Chief Secretary P K Jena said the rescue operation at Bahanaga Railway station in Balasore district is almost in the final stage except one.

The Chief Secretary the rescue operation has posed a challenge in one of the coaches.

Jena said a crane may be needed to rescue the passenger from the coach and the railway authorities have been requested to do the needful.

The Chief Secretary said the process for postmortem and identification of bodies has been started. The process for identification of bodies and release of bodies to the relatives after identification started.

He said after an appeal hundreds of people came to the hospital at midnight on Friday night to donate blood to the accident victims. So far 900 units of blood have been collected in Balasore hospital.

Reports said 100 units of blood have also been collected at SCB Medical college.

Meanwhile, Railway Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw reached the accident site at Bahanaga and discussed it with senior Railway officials.

Meanwhile 15 trains have been cancelled and several trains diverted.

The district administrations are directed to provide food and water to passengers stranded at different stations and extend help to reach their destination.