170 unidentified bodies from the railway disaster in Odisha’s Bahanaga Bazar, close to the Balasore district, have been transported to different hospitals in Bhubaneswar to preserve the body from biological decay.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena’s Statement
The Odisha government reported 275 fatalities on June 4, down from the 288 reported on June 3, citing double counting of some bodies.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena gave a media briefing on the subject of the death toll and stated, “The Indian Railway had informed us that the death toll was 288 and we had also distributed the same on Saturday. The Balasore district magistrate and his entire staff have diligently counted every dead body once more since last night (Saturday), taking into consideration bodies found at the track, hospital, and two improvised assembly places. They discovered that several dead corpses had been reported more than once. The collector has officially informed us that the ultimate death toll is 275 instead of 288 by 10 am, after eliminating those duplicates,” stated Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena.
170 Unrecognisable Bodies
Due to a flurry of activities in a stressful situation, there had been a double count. 88 of the 275 bodies have been identified and given to their family members. According to Mr Jena, 170 of the remaining 187 bodies have been transported to Bhubaneswar. A total of 1,175 injured people have been sent to various hospitals, and 793 have been released.
Although Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw pronounced the rescue effort to be over on Saturday, body parts were still being found among the wreckage. Five dismembered bodies were discovered below the Coromandel Express and Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express wrecked carriages on Sunday while they were being removed off the track to make way for restoration work.
Relatives who were inconsolable would not leave the accident scene without their loved ones. Keeping watch over recently recovered bodies at the school, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Bijay Patnaik stated, “Distressed relatives keep going to school to take a look at the faces of cadavers, ornamental features, and wallets. They return with dejected expressions since the bodies are beyond identification. For crowd control, I can stand guard in the sweltering heat for ten hours, but it’s impossible to spend an hour here and interact with my parents and brother, who are in agonizing suffering.
Conserving the Dead Bodies
The unrecognizable bodies were in the following hospitals in Bhubaneswar. i.e. AIIMS Hospital, AMRI Hospital, SUM Hospital, Capital Hospital, KIMS Hospital, and Hi-Tech Hospital.
We have posted images of bodies that were unidentified on the websites of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, and the Odisha Special Relief Commissioner. The photos should only be used for identification purposes, Mr Jena advised.
The state government’s website, www.bmc.gov.in, has images of the unidentified dead.Â
People from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha were swarming the North Orissa Chamber of Commerce and Industry campus in Balasore, where identified corpses are being temporarily held before being handed over to families.
The AIIMS in Bhubaneswar has received almost 120 unclaimed bodies for preservation. Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister, met with senior medical professionals and administrators there on Sunday to examine the processes being used to embalm the dead corpses and deliver them to the deceased’s family members.
The majority of the Coromandel Express train catastrophe survivors, according to accounts, arrived back at their destinations on June 4, 2024. On the site of the terrible railway tragedy, rehabilitation work is currently being done. For quick repairs, more than seven Poclain machines, three accident rescue trains, and three to four railway and road cranes have been sent into action.
