New Delhi, June 3 (). Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited Odisha’s Balasore, where over 260 people have died and over 900 have been injured in the gruesome train accident a day earlier. He took stock of the situation on the spot and spoke to the officials.
Before leaving Delhi for Odisha, the Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting on Friday evening regarding the tragic train accident at Bahanga Bazar Railway Station.
According to government officials, Modi reviewed the ongoing relief work at the accident site.
He also interacted with local officials, disaster relief forces personnel and railway officials.
The Prime Minister emphasized on the whole-of-government approach to mitigate the pain of the horrific tragedy. Modi also spoke to the Cabinet Secretary and Union Health Minister from the spot and asked them to ensure that all help is provided to the injured and their families.
The Prime Minister said that special care should be taken to ensure that the bereaved families are not put to inconvenience and the affected get all possible help.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, who had reached Balasore early in the morning, briefed the Prime Minister about the accident and the rescue and relief operations.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was also present at the accident site.
From there the Prime Minister went to Balasore Hospital where he spoke to some of the survivors of the train accident and also interacted with the doctors.
The Prime Minister was earlier scheduled to flag off the first Vande Bharat Express train from Goa on Saturday, but the program was canceled in view of the tragic accident in Odisha.
Nearly 16 hours after the accident, which involved two express trains – Coromandel Express and SMVP-Howrah Superfast Express – and a goods train, the railways on Saturday afternoon announced the completion of rescue operations, following which restoration work on the rail route was underway. started.
Friday’s accident brought back horrific memories of another fatal accident in UP’s Firozabad in 1995, in which 358 people died.
In a similar accident, on 2 August 1999, the Brahmaputra Mail collided with the Avadh-Assam Express near Gasal in Assam, in which around 290 people lost their lives.
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