Bengaluru hotel worker dies in Odisha train accident

At least one passenger of the 12864 SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Express is reported to have died in the Odisha train accident.

At least 36 other passengers suffered injuries in the crash and have been compensated. One of them has suffered grievous injuries and his wife has been paid Rs two lakh. Others received Rs 50,000 each, railway officials said.

Sagar Kheria, a resident of Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal, died in the accident, according to a PTI report.

Kheria, 30, worked in a hotel in Bengaluru and was returning home when the tragedy struck. He travelled with 13 others from the Nagarakata block of the Jalpaiguri district, the report stated.

A railway official in Bengaluru told DH that two other members of the group — Dharmanath Singh, 19, and Aman Onrao, 24 — had suffered injuries and were undergoing treatment.

Among the other injured were the train manager and two others travelling in the guard coach that was attached to an SLRD (Second Class Luggage Rake for the Disabled) coach. All of them have been admitted to a hospital in Balasore, according to railway officials in Bengaluru.

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The 23-coach superfast train was hurtling towards Howrah at 90-100 kmph when it crashed into the derailed coaches of the Shalimar-Chennai Central Express near the Bahanga Bazaar railway station in Odisha around 7 pm.

The Bengaluru train’s first 18 coaches zoomed past unscathed. Coach number 19 (an AC first-tier compartment) suffered some scratches. Coach number 20 (216754/C or General Class 1) suffered more damage but didn’t capsize. Coach number 21 (General Class 2) and the SLRD guard coach veered off the rails and capsized, the official explained.

Among the deceased, no passenger was from Karnataka, officials said.

The engine and the first 20 coaches of the train were checked and deemed fit at 12.58 am on Saturday to continue the journey at a restricted speed of 10 kmph. The rake (line of coaches) arrived at Balasore at 03.42 am.

At Balasore, coach number 216754 (General Class 1) was detached from the rake. The remaining 19 coaches with passengers left Balasore at 5.08 am to continue their journey towards Howrah with a speed restriction of 40 kmph. The train reached Howrah at 1.30 pm on Saturday.