Around 40 people from the Coromandel Express may have died due to electrocution during the triple train crash in Odisha’s Balasore district, reported news agency PTI citing the Government Railway Police (GRP).
The bodies recovered had no visible injury marks and are believed to have died of electrocution, the GRP said.
An FIR registered at the Government Railway Police station at Balasore suggested that passengers succumbed to injuries caused due to electrocution when live overhead wires snapped after the accident took place. The live wires got entangled with a few coaches, and electrocuted the passengers trapped in them.
According to officials, the “overhead wires snapped as coaches which toppled over during the triple train accident overturned electrical masts,” reported PTI.
Sub-inspector of Police, P Kumar Nayak in his FIR said, “Many passengers succumbed to injuries caused due to the collision and electrocution (after) coming in contact with overhead LT (low tension) line.”
The accident involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods train in Odisha’s Balasore district left nearly 278 people dead and injured 1200, in one of the worst railway accidents in the country.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating into the accident, has booked a case.
The CBI will be looking at all possible reasons including human error or deliberate attempts that led to the accident.
“CBI has registered a case on the request of ministry of railways, consent of the Odisha government and further orders from DoPT (department of personnel and training) relating to the train accident involving Coromandel Express, Yashwantpur-Howrah Express and a goods train at Bahanaga Bazar in the state of Odisha on June 2,” a CBI spokesperson said.
