The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that 31 passengers from her state who were on board the Coromandel Express are still missing after the quadruple train catastrophe which killed over 270 people. Banerjee was in Odisha to meet with injured people being treated in various hospitals in Cuttack.
“Odisha and West Bengal governments are working together. They are providing free treatment. A total of 103 bodies belonging to West Bengal have been identified and 97 people are under treatment and 31 are missing,” Banerjee told reporters here.
On June 2, the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express, and a cargo train collided on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha’s Balasore district. Over 1000 people were injured in the calamitous incident.
While asking a probe into the tragic accident, she said, “So many people have died, the truth must come out.”
The Bengal Chief Minister also visited the SCB Medical College and Hospital’s eye and surgery department and interacted with patients. Banerjee arrived at the accident site in Balasore on Saturday to assess rescue efforts and questioned why the Centre’s anti-collision system, ‘Kavach,’ was missing from the collision track.
Notably, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has opened an investigation into the matter. In their statement, CBI said, “On the request of the Ministry of Railways, consent of the Odisha Government and further orders from DoPT(Govt. of India) relating to the train accident involving Coromandel Express, Yashwantpur-Howrah Express and a Goods train at Bahanaga Bazar in the State of Odisha on June 2, 2023.”
The statement further reads “CBI has taken over the investigation of the case earlier registered at Balasore GRPS, District Cuttack (Odisha) vide GRPS Case No.64 dated June 3 regarding the said accident.”