Suvendu Adhikari claims kin of Odisha rail mishap victims being ‘compelled’ to visit Kolkata

The train crash, which occurred near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, killed more than 288 people and injured around 1000.

Published on: Jun 6, 2023, 20:38:32 IST

By Sanskriti Falor

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West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday took a jibe at chief minister Mamata Banerjee for asking families of those who died in Balasore train accident to come to Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata to collect promised cheques.

Porters carry goods collected from the mangled coaches at the triple train mishap site. (PTI)

“The relatives of people who were injured in Balasore Train Accident are being compelled to come to Netaji Indoor Stadium tomorrow because CM Mamata Banerjee will deliver a speech there and handover cheques to the injured and relatives of the deceased. It is shameful that they are being told to come to Kolkata. They have not even recovered from the trauma", Adhikari told reporters.

Mamata Banerjee after the accident

Banerjee on Saturday visited Bahanaga Bazar in Odisha's Balasore district — where a three-way rail accident took place 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.

“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.

Train accident in Balasore

On June 2, the Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train around 7 pm, which derailed most of its coaches. After some time, another Bengaluru-Howrah Express crashed into the derailed coaches at the accident site.

The train crash, which occurred near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, killed 288 people and injured around 1000.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanskriti Falor
Sanskriti Falor is a Senior Content Producer at the News Desk of HT Digital. Having worked in Digital Media for the past two years, she is interested in covering civic issues and global affairs.

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