THE horrific fatal three-train crash in the Odisha State of India has rocked the world.
Here are some facts:
- · At least 288 have been confirmed dead in the fourth-worst train crash in India’s history;
- · Estimates are that as many as 1,000 are injured, many suffering from “grievous” injuries;
- · The crash occurred at Bahanaga Bazar station, near Balasore, in an area known for its ancient temples and its history as a 17th-century British seaport;
- · One of the trains was a Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, which usually connects with large cities on the eastern coast;
- · At least 115 ambulances, several fire units, cranes, and bulldozers have been used in the rescue effort, scores of medics are involved, and hundreds of units of blood have been collected;
- · The hospital most heavily utilised to aid the injured is SCB in the city of Cuttack, which is about a three-hour drive from the site of the accident;
- · Indian Air Force helicopters are being used to evacuate deceased and injured passengers;
- · The rail system is crucial to India’s public transportation and to the national economy, especially in rural communities;
- · The deadliest rail accident in India’s recent history was in 1981, when an estimated passengers 750 died;
- · There have been much fewer derailments in recent years, from an annual high of about 475 four decades ago to around 50 in each recent year;
- · Prime Minister Narendra Modi has instituted several measures in recent years to improve train safety, with one step being the elimination of unmanned railway crossings;
- · PM Modi has vowed that those found guilty over the crash would be “punished stringently”;
- · About 90 train runs were cancelled and 46 were diverted after the crash;
- · Work to restore the crash site has begun.