JOIN USDistraught passengers of Coromandel Express arrive in Chennai
As many as 137 passengers of the Coromandel Express, who escaped with minor injuries or unhurt in the crash involving three trains in Odisha’s Balasore district, arrived at the Chennai Central Railway Station through a special train in the wee hours of Sunday.
Of the 137 passengers, medical examination was conducted for 36 and 34 of them were taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). Of them, only three have been admitted as patients in the hospital, while the remaining 31 passengers were free to leave after first aid, an official statement from the government said.
The statement added that 30 medical teams are camping at the Chennai Central railway station to attend to passengers returning from Odisha. Ambulances have also been kept on stand by at the station, the statement further said.
Revenue Minister K K S S R Ramachandran, Health Minister Ma Subramanian and senior government officials were present at the station to receive the passengers.
A special train carrying nearly 300 passengers of the Coromandel Express departed from the Bhadrak station in Odisha on Saturday. “Majority of them deboarded at various stations and 137 people reached Chennai Central,” Subramanian told reporters.
Also Read | Odisha train accident leaves migrant workers, families stranded at SMVT
Another special train carrying relatives of passengers of the train, who are yet to reach, left the Chennai Central station for Bhadrak on Saturday evening. The relatives will be taken to hospitals to identify their loved ones.
Passengers, who narrowly escaped death, had several harrowing tales to narrate on the crash. “Everything changed in just a fraction of second. I came out of the train through a window,” a passenger said on his arrival at the station.
Also Read | Odisha train tragedy: World leaders condole loss of lives, extend support
Murugan, another passenger, said “everything was over in just 10 seconds.” “I didn’t know it was such a major accident when I escaped. I was in the sleeper coach, and I was lucky. All we could hear was a loud noise and people shouting. It was pitch dark and villagers helped clear the route for rescue personnel to reach the accident site,” Murugan added.
Other said the locals pitched in immediately to help after the crash, following which rescue teams from the Odisha government and NDRF joined the operations.
Chief Minister M K Stalin had on Saturday night said of the identified bodies from the crash site, there was no one from Tamil Nadu. Since a large number of bodies are yet to be identified, a high-level team from the state consisting of two ministers - Udhayanidhi Stalin and S S Sivashankar, and three senior IAS officers will camp in Odisha for a few more days to assist the relief operations, the Chief Minister added.
The government has also announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to people from Tamil Nadu who died in the accident.