Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reached the train accident site in Odisha by IAF helicopter to review the situation. According to latest estimates, over 261 people have been killed and over 1000 injured in the accident.
Modi on Saturday reviewed the relief work by reaching the site of the horrific train accident in Balasore district of Odisha. He also met injured train accident victims in hospitals.
He was accompanied by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and senior officials of Railways and State Government were also present on the occasion. Modi reached Odisha from New Delhi today itself and reached the spot in a military helicopter. Shri Vaishnav had reached there earlier.
Take special care of the bereaved families: Modi
According to an official release, Modi interacted with local officials, disaster relief force personnel and railway officials on the spot. He stressed on adopting a holistic approach of the entire government machinery to deal with this horrific tragedy and reduce its suffering.
Modi also spoke to the Cabinet Secretary and the Health Minister there and directed them to provide all necessary assistance to the injured and their families. The Prime Minister has asked to take special care that the bereaved families do not face inconvenience and the affected people get the necessary assistance at the earliest.
The death toll in the train accident at Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha's Balasore on Friday evening has risen to 261 and over a thousand people have been injured. A day's mourning has been declared in the state.
Balasore Collector DB Shinde said that so far 261 bodies have been retrieved from the accident site. The accident site is about 200 km from the capital.
Modi will visit the injured at the Balasore District Hospital and meet the mishap survivors.
Earlier on Saturday, Modi chaired a high level meeting to take stock of the situation in the wake of the train mishap in Odisha.
The Prime Minister’s Office tweeted: “PM Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to take stock of the situation in the wake of the train mishap in Odisha. Aspects relating to rescue, relief and medical attention to those affected were
Stranded survivors leave for Chennai
Meanwhile, about 250 passengers who survived the train crash in Odisha are arriving on a special train, with the majority of them scheduled to disembark at Chennai, a railway official said on Saturday.
Train number P/13671 has started from Bhadrak towards Chennai carrying the stranded passengers from the accident site at Bahanaga Bazaar, and it will arrive at Vijayawada by 9.30 pm, where nine passengers are scheduled to alight on Saturday night.
According to preliminary information, four passengers will get down at Bherampur, while 41 will disembark at Visakhapatnam, one in Rajamahendravaram, two in Tadepelligudem and 133 in Chennai, a Vijayawada Railway Division official from the South Central Railway zone said. This train is expected to reach Chennai Central railway station on Sunday.
The railways said that 178 Andhra Pradesh-bound passengers were on the Coromandel Express, which originated from Shalimar in West Bengal and was destined for Chennai in Tamil Nadu, when it met with an accident on Friday night in Odisha at Bahanaga Bazaar.
World leaders express grief
World leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, expressed their condolences to the families and the Government of India on Saturday over the horrific train accident in Odisha in which at least 261 people were killed.
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