By Pramod Madhav: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday spoke to his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik following the horrific train accident involving the Coromandel Express train. Later, Stalin announced he was deputing a four-member panel to coordinate the rescue of Tamils on the train.
At least 280 people have been confirmed dead in the train crash, the fourth deadliest in India according to available records.
The accident happened near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, around 7 pm on Friday.
Several coaches of the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, on the way to Howrah, derailed and fell on adjacent tracks, an official told PTI.
Expressing shock over the accident, Stalin tweeted that he spoke to Patnaik and said the details shared by the latter about the accident were “worrying”.
“I have asked Transport Minister SS Sivasankar and 3 IAS officials to rush to Odisha to rescue the Tamils involved in the accident. Have directed setting up a helpline,” he added.
Expressing grief over the loss of lives, Stalin said during his conversation with Naveen Patnaik, he has assured all possible assistance from Tamil Nadu.
Several IPS and IAS officers, along with district officials were also sent to the accident spot, he said.
Further, Stalin said a special train had been arranged to ferry the passengers left stranded due to the accident.
He said the State Emergency Control Room had already been functioning since Friday night and work continued to provide assistance to the passengers.
Meanwhile, the Southern Railway has set up a helpdesk at Chennai Central railway station. It also announced the helpline numbers– 044-25330952, 044-25330953 and 044-25354771.
The South Western Railway has also set up helplines, as follows –
Bengaluru – 080-22356409
Bangarpet – 08153 255253
Kuppam – 8431403419
SMVB – 09606005129
KJM – 88612 03980
The helpline numbers issued by the Tamil Nadu government are –
1070 (toll-free)
9445869843
9445869848 (Whatsapp)
044-28593990