Train Tragedy

Indian Railways runs 3,240 Mail/Express trains, including Vande Bharat Express, Gatiman Express, Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Hum Safar Express, Tajas Express, Duronto Express, Antyodaya Express, Garib Rath Express, Sampark Express, Yuva Express, Udaya Express, Janshatabdi Express, and Coromandel Express, spoken as the fastest running Express.

They cover 13,169 passenger trains daily, on both long-distance and suburban routes, covering 7,325 stations across India. Mail or express trains, the most common types of trains, have an average speed of 50.6 km/h. 

240 crore passengers travel daily through these trains. Apart from these, the railways also run about 9,141 goods trains daily. Indian Railways is also owned by the Government of India. It is operated by the Ministry of Railways, divided into 17 zones, which are further subdivided into divisions for administrative purposes.

Indian Railways reported a gross profit of ₹162 lakh, 15% more than the previous year, on 18th April 2023.

The Kanya Kumari-Dibrugarh Vivek Superfast Express is a special train that travels all the way from Dibrugarh in Assam.

Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu Maharajas is the flagship luxury train in the country. The 23-carriage long train houses four different types of accommodation, viz., deluxe cabins, general suite cabins, suites, and presidential suites.

Man wants to reach his destination and return as soon as possible to attend other assignments to satisfy his urge for more money.

Therefore, roads have been widened, and the fastest-running vehicles developed, though it is said: the minute you save, it may be your last. Accidents and sad endings are the daily woe of life. So many; a bridegroom's car on the way to his father-in-law capsizes, his ornamental car meets with an accident, and thereby a tragic end. Pilgrims to their deities' worship crash onto a vehicle standing beside the highway, striking against a six-wheeled truck, and so on happens regularly despite the highway police taking serious measures against the drivers, canceling their licenses for driving carelessly

For this reason, people took their journey by railways, which are safer than traveling by buses or cars. Instantly, a journey by train is also vulnerable.

The data shows a massive drop from 14,769 train accidents in the decades 1960-61 and 1970-71 to 1,844 train accidents in the ten-year period.

Most recently, the six-year period between 2014-15, 2021-22 saw 449 train accidents (excluding train accidents from Konkan Railways).

In 2023, 9 train accidents occurred. This year, on the night of October 11, 2023, six coaches of the 12506 Anand-Vihar-Terminal-Kamakhya Junction-North-East-Express derailed at Raghunathpur Railway Station in Buxar district, Bihar, on October 30, 2023.

On June 2, 2023, the deadliest and disastrous train accident took place at Bahanaga Bazar, Balasore, in eastern India. The Coromandel Express entered the passing loop instead of the line it followed.

On June 4, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated, "A change in electric interlocking and an error in electronics signal caused the crash."

The train was going at full speed across the station supposed to stop at the station.

It is obvious from the brief that the Coromandel, instead of going past the goods train on the main line, entered the loop and smashed into the goods train from the rear.

The tragic accident at Bahanaga, the C.B.I., all three under penal code section 304, part - 2, road with destruction (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) section 34, road with 201 (common cause read with destruction of evidence), and 153 of the railway act.

In Bahanaga train tragedy, over 1,200 people were injured in the crash. By the evening of June 3, Odisha government officials said that 1,175 people had been admitted to hospitals as a result of the crash; 793 of those people had been released, and 382 were still undergoing treatment.

The June 2 accident that took place in Odisha's Bahanaga Bazar railway station killed nearly 300 people and injured (officially) 1,200, but as stated by the locals, more than that. The C.B.I. had arrested three senior section engineers (signals) Arun Kumar Mohanta, section engineer Amir Khand, and technician Pappu Kumar, all posted in Balasore district.

Gunanidhi Mohanty, a 49-year-old loco pilot of the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express, was piloting the train with 36-year-old assistant loco pilot Hajari Kumar Behera when the train first hit an iron ore-laden goods train that was stationed on a loop line of Bahanaga Bazar station in the Balasore district on June 2 evening.

The disaster management committee responded to Odisha train accident. Never before had more than 200 ambulances been mobilized and pressed into service at one location, signifying the magnitude of the disaster. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was at the state control room and assigned separate responsibilities to about 10 senior bureaucrats and police officers. Tragic sequence of Events that led to Odisha Train, Bahanaga Bazar Station.

Half an hour before the horrible Train Accident, people in their respective compartments (reserved, unreserved; A.C., non-A.C.) were in a gleeful mood! Laughing with friends, relatives, playing cards, singing or humming songs, speaking with their loved ones by their their Phones, meddling with teacups, reading romantic stories. All of a sudden, at 6:58 P.M., the devastating noise was heard. The Chennai-Howrah Coromandel Express mistakenly entered the loop line, instead of continuing on the main line towards Chennai. Officials said that this was likely due to human error in signaling as Coromandel Express wasn't supposed to stop. It was traveling at a full speed of 128 km/hour.

The train accident claimed several lives and disabled many more. These victims and their families needed help beyond the basic requirements of food, water, and more. Donarkarts, along with four on-ground partners Udhyam, Sikh aid, CFAR, SEEDS, were able to provide them with assistance that will support those who have lost limbs in the tragic accident.

On 8th June, they were able to impact 210 people by distributing 20 wheelchairs, 20 walking sticks, and clothes like lungi and sarees for those in need. Additionally, they had also distributed 10 coffins to the families who have lost their loved ones in this accident.

These products were given to the patients of S.C.B. Hospital in Cuttack and AIIMS in Bhubaneswar.

While their pain is unimaginable, the contributions have supported them in the hour of their need and will help these victims regain strength.

As relief work continues in Odisha, Donate kart on our | |- on-ground N.G.O

. partners is working dedicatedly to ensure that individuals injured in the accidents , their families, and other victims receive the necessary help they need to make it through a difficult time. On June 5th, 2023, over 987 freshly cooked meals and ready-to-eat kits distributed consisting of rice, dal, Khichudi, vegetable curries, Upama, snacks, and more than 300 water bottles, along with O.R.S. and glucose and clothes for those in need. The distributions took place at Bhadrak, Bahanaga Baleswar, and Balasore Hospital and Balasore D.H.H. Hospital. 15,381 people, including injured victims, families of injured persons, caretakers, and frontline workers, received these products.

On June 6th, 2023, 859 cooked meals and ready-to-eat kits, over 1200 bottles of water, 1200 packets glucose, and clothes were distributed to 1162 people in front of Balasore Govt. Hospitals, Bahanaga, and Balasore D.H.H.

It followed 7th and 8th June 1117 fresh meals, ready-to-eat kits that were distributed, 300 bed sheets. Those helped 1036 victims, their families, and relatives of patients from Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, SCB Cuttack, Bhadrak, Bahanaga, Baleshwar, and Balesore D.H.H.Hospital.

On-ground, N.G.O. partners, Aavahan Foundation, Rural Foundation, Rural Development Centre, VIEWS, SEEDS NGO, Natures Club, C.F.A.R., Udayam, Sikh Aid, Utkal Seva, and Yuva Vikas. They continue to serve people with empathy and compassion.

The residents of Bahanaga locality in Balasore district, Odisha observed on Sunday the 10th day ritual for the victims of the triple-train accidents that took place on June 2. As a part of the ritual, 116 people shaved their heads at a pond near the Bahanaga Bazar Station.

Sarat Raj, Panchayat Samiti member of Bahanaga block, said, they have rescued hundreds of people from the accident-hit trains and recovered many bodies with the help of rescuers,"We regarded them as our family members. The way we observe the death of our family members, we did the same here for the people who lost their lives" Raj said.

Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said the final figures were confirmed after recovering the report from the district collectors after a thorough verification process.

They were directed to match the data of bodies found on the tracks with collection points at the temporary mortuary, besides the hospitals in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack, and Bhubaneswar where the injured were sent, Jena said.

"Combing was done up to 30 meters of the tracks first and then from 30 meters to 60 meters on either side of the tracks in Bahanaga by the Government of Railway police, district police, and civil magistrate to locate the injured and the deceased" he said.

"Altogether 103 bodies of passengers from West Bengal have been identified, of them 86 have reached the state. These apart 31 bodies are still missing."

Chief Secretary Jena, however, explained that it has been verified that 193 bodies were brought to Bhubaneswar, 94 bodies were identified and handed over to the next of kin Bhadrak, one of the injured died.

"The final figures now stand at 288. Among the injured, one person is critical, while the others mostly out of danger," he continued. Jena said 205 bodies had already been identified.

All That Remains Arjuna Patra is waiting for DNA test results so that he can claim his wife's body.

On June 2, Manjumoni Parra, 42, boarded the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express at Balasore in Odisha. She was traveling on an unreserved ticket to Cuttack to get medical reports from a clinic. She had been on the train for a few minutes when it collided with a stationary goods train in the Bahanaga Bazar area of Balasore. The collision caused the derailment of 21 coaches. Three of them hit the last two coaches of the incoming Bengaluru-Howrah Express. The rest of the train moved on with its passengers to the intended location.

But Patra could not reach the destination. She became the 291 official casualties of what has now ubiquitously dubbed Odisha train tragedy.

Patra's husband Arjun and son Dharmendra 21, rushed to the spot as soon as they heard of the accident. "We reached the spot in half an hour and searched for my mother's body among the piles of dead unconscious people", recalls Dharmendra.

When they could not find her at the site of the accident, they started looking for her among the injured in hospitals and then in mortuaries.

"On June 9, we managed to identify her body at AIIMS Bhubaneswar from the jewelry that she was wearing. The rings on the fingers heirlooms", says Arjuna.

Dharmendra was told that as per the identification protocol he would need to submit his DNA to the authorities for testing and was asked to come back in 18 hours. On May 19, after a long and agonizing wait, the family arrived in Bhubaneswar via the same tracks on which Manjumoni had died.

"They are saying it will take more time. The bodies are rotting and decomposing. We just want the body back," says tearful Arjun.

Ashok Rabi Das from West Bengal has stayed in Bhubaneswar since the day of the accident and has been waiting for his brother Krishna's body. Krishna was on his way from Bengaluru where he worked. Das identified him through his possessions like a belt and shirt.

The families can't help but wonder why some people have managed to get the bodies back on time while others are made to wait!

"They (the authorities) think we are after money. All we want right now is the bodies of our relatives so that we can perform their last rites," Das states.

Identification is not an easy task since most bodies were already in pretty bad shape when they were brought to AIIMS. Since the announcement of the compensation, many are making fraudulent claims over dead bodies to earn quick cash, states Rudra Samantaray, joint secretary of 'Mo parivar' civil society organization.

While the kin of victims have been trying to locate their loved ones, tragedy has been living through what they describe as the worst nightmare of their lives. Officials are overwhelmed by the scale of the tragedy.

At the point of the unfinished woe of the victims' relatives, still, they wait with patience to get back the decomposed bodies of their kin for their last rites.

At the point of filling up the story, 81 bodies had remained unidentified, and DNA samples of 70 of them awaited test results. The official tolls increased to 291. On June 17, after a man from Bihar succumbed to injuries, initially 200 people were being treated, while some have been discharged; many remain in critical condition in the ICU.

At this time, the story tells us to wait as if the family was still waiting. Many families, like the Patras, have been searching for their loved ones after the search is ending in despair.