Train crash reduces hope of finding survivors in India – 6/3/2023 – World

Rescue teams have found no survivors in the train crash in India that has so far killed 288, officials said on Saturday (3), in what was the fourth worst rail disaster in the country’s history.

The derailment of a passenger train on Friday (2), in Balasore, in the state of Odisha, also injured at least 850 people. After derailing, the Superfast Express carriages invaded another track, where they were hit by the Coromandel Express, which was going at high speed in the opposite direction.

A freight train, which was parked at the site, was also hit. The impact of the collision derailed 12 Coromandel Express cars and threw 50 passengers through windows. Some parts of the train were completely destroyed; others were seen with twisted pieces of metal and bloodstains.

This Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and then went to a hospital to meet some of the victims, according to information from the Times of India newspaper. He asked Health Minister Shri Mansukh that all necessary help be given to the injured and their families. The government declared Saturday a national day of mourning out of respect for the victims.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on his Twitter account on Saturday that his thoughts were with the families of the victims and that France was in solidarity with the accident.

Shortly after the accident on Friday, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced a series of compensation for the victims. Families of the dead, he claimed, would be given 1 million rupees (R$60,000 approximately). For those seriously injured, 200,000 rupees (R$ 12,000). And, to the lightly injured, 50 thousand rupees (R$ 3,000).