207 people died and more than 900 others were injured in the fatal train accident in Odisha on Friday. Officials say many people are trapped in the bogies and the death toll is likely to increase.
It is known that two passenger and one goods train collided at Bahanaga Bazar station near Baleshwar around 7 pm. The first Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast train derailed and several bogies fell on the adjacent track. At the same time the oncoming Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express collided with these bogies. After that another goods train also hit them. As three trains collided with each other, the severity of the accident increased indescribably.
In the wake of the Odisha train accident, many train services on that route have been temporarily cancelled. Officials have announced that all 18 long-distance trains will be cancelled. Howrah-Puri Superfast (12837), Howrah-Bangalore Superfast (12893), Howrah-Chennai Mail (12839), Howrah-Secunderabad (12703), Howrah-Hyderabad (18045), Howrah-Tirupati (20889), Howrah-Puri Superfast (12895), Howrah-Sambalpur Express (20831), Santragachi-Puri Express (02837) and other trains have been cancelled.
Meanwhile, Bangalore-Guwahati train (12509) was diverted via Vizianagaram, Titlagad, Jharsuguda, Tata. Chennai Central-Howrah (12840) train in Kharagpur Division has been diverted via Jaroli, Vasco Dagama-Shalimar (18048) and Secunderabad-Shalimar (22850) weekly trains have been diverted via Cuttack, Angol.
The Konkan Railway officials announced on Friday that they have also postponed the inauguration of the Goa-Mumbai ‘Vandebharat’ train.