Tag : Yashwantpur

Bhubaneshwar/New Delh: At least 50 people were killed and over 150 injured as 3-4 coaches of Yashwantpur Howrah Superfast Express derailed and fell on opposite track, near the Bahanaga railway station in Odisha's Balasore district on Friday evening, where the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express collided with them, leading to derailment of 10-12 more coaches, officials said. Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw, who said that he is rushing to the spot, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 2 lakh for seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries. "At least 3 to 4 coaches of Yashwantpur Howrah Superfast Express derailed around 6.58 p.m. near Bahanaga railway station in Odisha and fell on the opposite track. And soon Coromandel Express came on opposite track and collided with derailed coaches that led to derailment of its 10 to 12 coaches," a senior Railway Ministry official in Delhi told IANS. A ministry statement said: "Train number 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and Train number 12864 SMVB-HWH Superfast Express got derailed near Bahanaga Bazaar railway station at around 6.55 p.m. on Friday." The official said that as of now it is tough to tell the number of casualties as railways is indulged in rescue operations to save maximum lives. However, sources at the spot said that 50 people were killed and over 100 injured. Railway staff and officials are present at the accident site and rescue operations are going on at utmost priority, it said. On the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Revenue Minister Pramila Mallik and Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu proceeded towards the accident spot. Sahu had directed the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team at B ...