BREAKING highlights: Andhra Pradesh dispatches 20 ambulances, 21 funeral vehicles to Odisha

Around 90 trains were cancelled, mostly in the Southern and South Eastern Railway Zones, while 46 were diverted and 11 short-terminated following the three-train accident in Odisha's Balasore on Friday in which 288 people were killed.

According to the latest data released by the two zones, the South Eastern Railway cancelled trains such as the Chennai-Howrah Mail, the Darbhanga-Kanniyakumari Express and the Kamakhya-LTT Express journey commencing on June 3.

It has also cancelled the Patna-Puri Special train with journey commencing on June 4.

PTI

The Andhra Pradesh government has dispatched 20 ambulances and 21 funeral vehicles to the train accident site at Bahanaga Bazaar in Odisha, said Health Minister Vidadala Rajini on Saturday. '

Expressing deep sorrow over the tragedy which claimed nearly 290 people and injured over a 1,000 more, she said more vehicles are on standby for dispatch if needed. 

"For better coordination of these vehicles, a committee of officials from the health, transport and police departments has been appointed," said the Health Minister in a press note shared by the state government today. Further, she said Srikakulam RIMS, Vizag King George Hospital and hospitals superintendents in Vizianagaram have been put on alert.

PTI

The Indian Navy is working in close coordination with Odisha State Administration to provide medical relief and support at the site of the Coromandel Express accident near Balasore on Friday, said an official release.

A Medical and support team of 43 personnel including Surgical Specialists and Medical Assistants, ambulances and support services from INS Chilka were dispatched last night and are presently attending to the injured, extending immediate medical relief and OT facilities at the District HQ Hospital at Balasore.

ANI

When India's worst train accident in more than 20 years happened just outside his home, Hiranmay Rath said it felt "like the sky was falling on us or the earth was cracking open".

What followed was an unimaginable nightmare of corpses, body parts and suffering.

The college student stopped scrolling Facebook on his phone and rushed outside, to be confronted by the sight of bodies falling out of toppled carriages.

"I came out scared and heard loud wailing screams, which only got louder within seconds," Rath told AFP.

AFP

Twenty-three foreign nationals, including eight women from Nigeria, were arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district for allegedly staying illegally in India, police said on Saturday.

The arrests were made on Friday night, they said.

Station House Officer, Surajpur, Inspector Awadhesh Pratap Singh said, "Last night, the police received information that some foreign nationals are living illegally in a society in the police station limits. Following this, a police team along with officials of the Regional Notification Department raided the society."

(PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the site of Balasore Train Accident and reviewed the restoration work that was underway.

Injured of Balasore Train Accident have been brought to Cuttack's SCB Medical College. 

Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday attended the ‘Pratham Pooja’ of the Amarnath shrine, via video conferencing, ANI reported. 

"From July 1 pilgrimage from all over the country will throng the holy cave shrine of Amarnath. This yatra will end on August 30. The management is working to make this yatra successful," Sinha said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday visit the accident site where a triple train collision lead to the deaths of over 230 people in Odisha's Balasore. 

Defence minister Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral talks with his US and German counterparts in New Delhi on June 5 and 6, ANI reported. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and German Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius are visiting New Delhi for the talks.

In the wake of rising temperatures Assam's Nagaon district administration issued an order rescheduling the timing of classes of all educational institutions (Government and Private) from 7:30 am with immediate effect.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Saturday declared one-day state mourning following the Balasore Train Accident in Odisha which claimed 233 lives and left more than 900 injured, ANI reported.

More than 230 people were killed and about 900 injured in a horrific train crash in Odisha, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train, officials said on Saturday. Live Update

President Joe Biden celebrated a “crisis averted" in his first speech to the nation from the Oval Office Friday evening, ready to sign a budget agreement that eliminates the potential for an unprecedented government default that he said would have been catastrophic for the U.S. and global economies.