Odisha train crash: 187 bodies not identified yet; toll revised to 275

PTI

Balasore, June 4

The Odisha Government on Sunday revised the death toll in the three-train crash on Friday to 275 from 288 and put the number of injured at 1,175. Chief Secretary PK Jena said some bodies were counted twice.

“After detailed verification and a report by the Balasore District Collector, the final toll has been fixed at 275,” he said. With 187 bodies yet to be identified, keeping them till the time they are claimed by the victims’ kin is proving to be a challenge to the local administration. While 110 bodies were kept at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, the remaining have been sent to private facilities.

The injured are being treated in different hospitals in Soro, Balasore, Bhadrak and Cuttack. “So far, 793 passengers have been discharged and 382 are being treated free of cost,” Jena said. Admitting that identification was a major challenge for the administration as the victims hailed from different states, the Chief Secretary said the state government had uploaded the details of the passengers on three websites of the Special Relief Commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and Odisha SDMA. “The photos of deceased have also been uploaded to facilitate identification,” he added.