So far 288 people have died in the train accident that took place on the evening of Friday, June 2, 2023, in Balasore district of the Indian state of Odisha. About 1000 people have been injured in the accident. The condition of many of the injured is critical.

The accident occurred when the Shalimar-Madras Coromandel Express hit a goods train parked at Bahanga station from behind. At the time of the accident, the Shalimar-Madras Coromandel Express was running at a speed of around 128 kmph, while the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express was running at around 125 kmph. The speed of trains on this route was increased to 130 km per hour 15 days back.

In the technical language of railways, it is called head on collision. Such accidents are usually seen very rarely.

In this accident, 12 coaches of the Shalimar-Madras Coromandel Express derailed. Some of these coaches moved to another track. Yesvantpur-Howrah Express coming from Bengaluru was passing on the other track at the same time.

After the derailment, the coaches of the Shalimar-Madras Coromandel Express, which had crossed the other track, collided with the passing Yesvantpur-Howrah Express. Along with this, this horrific accident happened.

The accident took place on the broad gauge network in the Kharagpur division of the South Eastern Zone of the Railways.

What happened during this accident on the night of Friday, June 2, 2023?

Train No. 12841 Shalimar - Madras Coromandel Express departed at its scheduled time from Shalimar Railway Station near Howrah on Friday, 2 June 2023.

This train of 23 coaches was to reach Chennai via Balasore, Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada on the up line.

This train started its journey at 3.20 pm and it first halted at Santragachi railway station and then reached Kharagpur station with a delay of just 3 minutes.

The train started running from Kharagpur station at 5.05 pm. The train was moving towards Bahanaga Bazar railway station near Balasore at 7 pm.

This train was supposed to go straight ahead without stopping at Bahanga station, but instead of the main line at the station, it went to the loop line. At this station, a goods train was standing on the loop line and the speeding Coromandel Express hit the goods train from behind.

According to the BBC, Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary of the All India Railway Men's Federation, said that due to some technical fault, the green signal was given to the Coromandel Express or due to a technical glitch, the train left the main line and went on the loop line, due to which the accident occurred. Has happened.

The Coromandel Express hit the goods train from behind, due to which 12 coaches of the train got derailed. Some of its coaches fell and reached the down line on the other side and collided with the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express coming on it.

At the same time, 12864 Yesvantpur Howrah Express train coming from Yesvantpur towards Howrah was crossing the accident spot. This train of 22 coaches was running late by about 4 hours and most of the train had passed beyond the accident site.

That's when the Coromandel Express train met with an accident and some of its coaches, rolling after falling, collided with the rear of the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express. Due to this collision, 3 coaches of Yesvantpur-Howrah Express also got derailed.

Amitabh Sharma, spokesperson of the Ministry of Railways of India, said in a statement on the night of Friday, June 2, 2023, that the incident took place on Friday, June 2, 2023, at around seven o'clock in the evening, and a total of 15 coaches of both the trains were derailed in the incident. .

According to the BBC, Sriprakash, former member (traffic) of the Railway Board, said that the kind of information coming in, it seems that this accident happened due to huge human error.

According to Sriprakash, "If a train is standing on a track, the points are reversed to prevent another train from coming on that track so that the train stays on the other track. If this is not possible due to some technical fault, then red light signal is given immediately so that whatever train is coming, it stops."

According to Shiv Gopal Mishra, the speed of trains on this route was increased about 15 days ago to the maximum speed of 130 kilometers per hour.

According to him, the speed of the Coromandel Express at the time of the accident was around 128 km per hour, while the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express was also running at a speed of around 125 km per hour.

Because of this speed, the Coromandel Express suffered more damage. On the other hand, due to speed, most part of the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express train had crossed the accident site and only its rear part was the victim of the accident.

The special thing is that both the trains that were victims of the accident were of LHB coaches. 'Linke Hoffmann Busch' coaches are German designed coaches and are considered safer in terms of accidents.

Unlike the old ICF design coaches of the Railways, LHB coaches do not roll over each other in an accident, thus reducing the risk of any coach being trapped and reducing the risk of loss of lives to passengers.

Images from the Odisha accident show that the engine of the Coromandel Express train ran over the goods train. While several coaches behind the engine were buried after colliding with each other.

South Eastern Railway has issued several helpline numbers to help the people affected by the accident.

Also, on Saturday, June 3, 2023, South Eastern Railway is running a special train from Howrah to Balasore through which relatives can reach the accident site.

This train will stop at Santragachi, Uluberia, Bagnan, Mecheda, Panskura, Balichak, Kharagpur, Hijli, Belda and Jaleshwar.

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