52 bodies of Balasore train accident victims await identification; Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation cremates two

Over 50 bodies of the Balasore triple train crash victims await identification at AIIMS Bhubaneswar while the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) cremated moral remains of two victims at the Satya Nagar crematorium here.

Of the 81 bodies at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, 29 bodies were identified through DNA testing and out of that, 22 bodies have been cremated by Sunday, an official said.

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"Currently there are 52 bodies of the train accident victims at AIIMS Bhubaneswar,” the official said.

The BMC officials on Sunday cremated the bodies of the two victims identified as Dinesh Yadav (31) from Jharkhand and Suresh Ray (23) from Bihar.

Of the 293 people killed in the June 2 accident, 287 died on the spot while six others succumbed to their injuries.

AIIMS Bhubaneswar had made arrangements for the transportation of three bodies to the native place of the victims of the train accident.

One body was taken to the deceased person’s native village in Bihar, while family members of two other victims did not want to take the mortal remains considering the long journey, a BMC official said.

The two families allowed the BMC to cremate the bodies in Bhubaneswar, the official said. Samples taken from the bodies were sent for DNA testing due to multiple claims for a single body.

About the remaining 52 bodies, the official said, “We are hopeful that the DNA sampling test results would be available in two three days.”

The triple accident took place near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district involving Chennai-bound Coromandel Express from Shalimar, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a stationary goods train.