Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw camped at the Balasore train accident site for more than 48 hours. He supervised not only the rescue operation but also the entire restoration work. On Friday (June 2), he informed that he is “rushing to the site in Odisha” and till Sunday night, he was there.
“Rushing to the site in Odisha. My prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured and condolences to the bereaved families. Rescue teams mobilised from Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. NDRF, State govt. teams and Airforce also mobilised. Will take all hands required for the rescue ops,” tweeted Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Friday.
Till late Sunday night, Vaishnaw took stock of the restoration work at the triple train accident site in Balasore, Odisha.
Odisha train accident
On Friday, in the state of Odisha in eastern India, three trains collided near the city of Balasore. Two passenger trains, (the 12841 Coromandel Express) and (the 12864 SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah SF Express), crashed after an initial mishap involving a freight train. The mishap took place near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station.
As per the reports, in the crash, over 275 people were killed. More than 900 have sustained injuries in the incident. This is the fourth-deadliest rail disaster of the 21st century. Talking about India, this is the country’s worst rail crash since the Firozabad rail disaster (1995).
Swamy demands the resignation of Vaishnaw
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and veteran politician Subramanian Swamy has demanded the resignation of the union railway minister.
“Now we know: The fast train that flew off the tracks to an oncoming train was never to be allowed on those tracks since the tracks were meant for a slower train. Thus Rail Mantri must resign without waiting for a nod from the PM,” tweeted Swamy on Sunday.
“Of course Modi is world famous for recruiting incompetent, or competent but inappropriate spineless chelas as Ministers. He is paying a price. Manipur is another example of incompetent but loyal chela as head,” he added.