Thiruvananthapuram : The Odisha train tragedy has quaked the country, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Several have lost their lives and hundreds are critically injured.
We share the grief of bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. At this hour of sorrow, I assure the conscience and support of Kerala is with Odisha, said CM in a media briefing.
The accident
Several coaches of the Shalimar-Chenna Coromandel Express fell off to adjacent track and hit a stationary goods train at about 7 pm Friday in Balasore district. The carriages of the goods train ended up on the opposite track where another train - the Howrah Superfast Express traveling from Yesvantpur to Howrah - hit the overturned carriages.
The coaches were mangled and wrecked near wholly from force with which the trains collided. More than 200 ambulances and hundreds of doctors, nurses and rescue personnel were deployed at the scene. According to Director General of Odisha Fire Rescue Services, 288 have died so far. .
A day of mourning has been announced in the state.
