Patnaik visits rail accident site, meets victims

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the site in Jajpur district where a train accident killed at least nine people and injured over 150.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday visited the site in Jajpur district where a train accident killed at least nine people and injured over 150.

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Patnaik also visited the hospital at Jajpur, about 100 km from in Bhubaneswar, and the Sriram Chandra Bhanja medical college hospital at Cuttack and met the injured.

Fourteen coaches of the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed Friday evening near the Jajpur-Keonjhar Road railway station.

Four other coaches were badly damaged, JP Mishra, chief public relations officer of East Coast Railway, told IANS.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had earlier put the death toll at 15. But railway authorities on Saturday said only nine bodies had been recovered.

Earlier, a team of railway ministry officials led by Minister of State for Railways R Velu visited the accident site. An investigation has been ordered into the accident.

"Rescue and relief operations are still on," Mishra added.