The death toll in Friday’s triple train accident at Bahanaga Bazar in Odisha’s Balasore rose to 288 even as work to remove mangled coaches and repair tracks at the site started in full swing, a railway official said.
Three trains -- 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train -- were involved in the accident, one of the worst railway tragedies in the country.
Citing reports available till late afternoon Saturday, the official said 288 people were killed in the accident.
The official said, “803 people were injured in the accident, including 56 who suffered grievous injuries”.
The two express trains were carrying more than 2,200 passengers with reserved tickets, he added.
The railways said that the 12841 Coromandel express while passing through the Up main line met with an accident and dashed with a stationary goods train in a loop line at Bahanaga Bazar station, situated about 280 kms from Howrah and 171 kms from Bhubaneswar.
Text: PTIPhotos: PTI, PMO, PIB