West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday visited Bahanaga Bazar in Odisha's Balasore district three-way rail accident that took place on Friday evening involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Coromandel Express and a goods train and took stock of the situation.
Addressing the media at the accident site, Banerjee said the Bengal government will provide ₹5 lakh each for the next of kin of those killed in the accident and “cooperate with the railways and the Odisha government until the work is completed". An amount of ₹1 lakh has been announced for the injured and ₹50,000 each will be given to the victims of the state.
Banerjee said there was no anti-collision device installed on the train and had the device been there, the accident could be avoided.
“Coromandel is one of the best express trains. I was the railway minister thrice. From what I saw, this is the biggest railway accident of the 21st century," she said.
“Such cases are handed over to railway's safety commission and they investigate and give a report...There was no anti-collision device on the train, as far as I know. Had the device been on the train, this would not have happened...The dead can't be brought back but now our work is rescue operation & restoration of normalcy,” Banerjee.
READ |Coromandel Express went on wrong track minutes before accident, say officials
{{/usCountry}}“Such cases are handed over to railway's safety commission and they investigate and give a report...There was no anti-collision device on the train, as far as I know. Had the device been on the train, this would not have happened...The dead can't be brought back but now our work is rescue operation & restoration of normalcy,” Banerjee.
READ |Coromandel Express went on wrong track minutes before accident, say officials
{{/usCountry}}Mamata also said she has sent 40 ambulances on Friday and 70 on Saturday. “40 of our doctors have reached here and they are working,” she added.
Train accident in Balasore
The train crash which occurred near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district killed more than 250 people and injured around 900.
Leaders from across the world, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have expressed their deepest condolences to the families and the government for the triple train crash that took place in Odisha.