JOIN USThe deceased included drivers and assistant drivers of both the trains.
However, the rescuers, who reached the spot immediately after the tragedy, managed to recover only one dead body.
Four others were still trapped inside the completely damaged two engines at the time of writing this report.
“Two loco pilots, two assistant loco pilots and one loco inspector were inside the two ill-fated engines. All of them are feared killed,” Divisional Railway Manager (DRM)Khurda Road railway division, under East Coast Railways, Sanjay Garg said. “The number of casualties may rise,” a police official, who supervised the rescue operation, said.
According to sources in the East Coast Railways headquarters here said, the accident occurred just a few metres from Tangiriapal railway station.
While one goods train was coming from Keonjhar carrying iron ore, the other one was empty and was moving from Jajpur.
Traffic affected
Railway traffic on the route has been affected as the accident severely damaged the track. It may take more than 12 hours to restore the track, railway authorities said. Ten wagons of the two goods trains jumped the tracks . Railway sources said, a snag in the signaling system could have led to the accident. An inquiry by the Railway Safety Commission has already been ordered.