BHUBANESWAR: The East Coast Railway formed a high-level enquiry team to probe the goods train derailment mishap at Korai station, even as train services on Kharagpur and Khurda road stretch of Howrah-Chennai main line was badly hit due to the dreadful accident that claimed three lives and left four others injured.
A high-level team of technical experts headed by Chief Safety Officer of East Coast Railway (ECoR) PC Sahu has been formed to probe into the incident.
"The team has already reached the spot and started its investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the incident and the report will come out soon," said a senior official from ECoR Khurda Road Division.
ECoR general manager (GM) Roop Narayan Sunkar and divisional railway manager (DRM) of Khurda Road Division Rinkesh Roy along with other senior officials of ECoR also rushed to the mishap stop to monitor the relief and restoration work.
Police, fire services personnel and ODRAF teams were deployed to assist railways in the rescue and relief work.
Officials said a total of 14 wagons were detailed in the accident that claimed three lives and left another four seriously injured.
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"Seven of the derailed wagons have been cleared from the track and efforts are on to restore train service on the rail line at the earliest," said an official of Khurda road division.
Meanwhile, the accident has brought train service on the Kharagpur and Khurda road stretch of 1,661 km-long Howrah-Chennai main line to a halt since 6.44 am, the time when the accident took place.
The ECoR has cancelled at least eight trains for the day, while several other trains have also been partially cancelled or diverted. The Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express has been diverted via Jakhpura-Jaroli-Tata, while Bangalore-Howrah Duronto Express has been diverted via Angul-Sambalpur city-Jharsuguda, officials said.
"Since the main line was hit, we used the alternative routes through Sambalpur and Keonjhar to divert long distance trains. It, somehow, helped ease the movement," said a senior officer.
Officials of ECoR said 210 out of 300 passengers stranded at Haridaspur station were accommodated in Hyderabad-Shalimar East Coast Express, while others were provided road transportation to help reach their destination. Stranded passengers were also provided with food and water.
Help desks were created at Korai station with the helpline number 8455889905. Emergency help centre were also activated at Bhubaneswar and Khurda road stations, officials said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who annouced ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the next to the kin of the deceased also directed Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallik to visit the spot to take stock of the situation.
Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident. The Minister also announced Rs 1 lakh will be given towards grievous injury and Rs 250