Team News Riveting
Balasore, June 4
The Odisha Government on Sunday put to rest the floating number of deaths in the tragic train accident and said 275 people lost their lives in Balasore mishap.
Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena on Sunday said the official death toll in the tragic Balasore train accident was 275, and not 288 as was claimed earlier. Even news channels have been showing conflicting figures.
“As some bodies were counted twice, at the spot and the hospital again, the death toll said then was not correct. Now, after detailed verification and report by the district Collector, the final death toll in the train tragedy is 275,” said Jena. Of it, 78 bodies have been identified and handed over to the family members. So far, 170 bodies have been shifted to Bhubaneswar from Balasore.
The Chief Secretary said DNA fingerprinting work was also going on. Already a 13-member central team had reached the state for embalming process with necessary equipment and chemicals.
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone and briefed him about the current situation. Patnaik reportedly briefed Modi that as many as 1175 people were admitted to various hospitals, out of which 793 have been discharged. Most of the injured patients are in stable condition, he added.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the root cause of the tragic train mishap had been ascertained. “The root cause of this accident has been identified. The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it… It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking,” the minister said.
