'Will I not be able to see my son for the last time': The painful quest to find loved ones in Odisha train accident

Days after the train disaster in Balasore, a painstaking, painful hunt for loved ones’ bodies continues at AIIMS and elsewhere. Crying uncontrollably, people rush to the accident site at Bahanaga Bazar Station, Bahanaga School, and Balasore district headquarters hospital (DHH) in search of their loved ones who had gone missing following one of the deadliest train mishap. Let’s take a closer look. Heartbreak and desperation at makeshift morgue At a makeshift morgue in a school, a couple scanned photos of disfigured corpses before leaning in for a closer look at one they think is their 22-year-old son. Also Read: Odisha train accident: What are the electronic locking system and Kavach in the spotlight after the crash? A pendant around his wounded neck provided the terrible confirmation. The mother held back tears and leaned gently on her husband’s shoulder for a few seconds, before looking away from the laptop of an official trying to identify the dead after India’s worst train disaster in decades. People have come to the Bahanaga High School, less than a kilometre from the crash site near Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha, since Friday’s horrific three-train collision. [caption id=“attachment_12691402” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Victims’ family members look at photographs to identify bodies at a business park used as temporary mortuary for the dead recovered from the carriage wreckage of a three-train collision near Balasore, in India’s eastern state of Odisha. AFP[/caption] Ali Akhtar Salim, carrying a photograph, has been asking everybody he can find about his son Aman at Bahanaga High School, as repoted by News 18. Salim said Aman had gone to his aunt’s and was returning on the Coromandel Express. “Yesterday, they told me his body was sent somewhere else. We then went there but could not find his body. His mother is unwell. Will I not be able to see my son for the last time?” Salim told News18. Mithun Kumar, also holding a photo, is seen asking every official he can find about his 22-year-old brother Lalit Kumar, who was a passenger on the Coromandel Express. “We are roaming everywhere possible but don’t have any information,” he said. At least 275 people were killed and hundreds more injured in the deadly crash. Also Read: Odisha train accident: How the deadly incident raises safety concerns ‘Identification is the biggest challenge’ What makes the identification of the bodies more difficult is that most of them are disfigured beyond recognition. Some train carriages were flipped over, others were torn open with the force of the impact. [caption id=“attachment_12691442” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Officials display pictures of victims for family members to identify bodies at a business park in Odisha. AFP[/caption] “The dead bodies that came here were already in a very bad state,” said Arvind Agarwal, the official in charge of the makeshift morgue. The searing heat has “further disfigured” many of them, he said. “The biggest challenge is the identification,” Agarwal said, sitting in the school headmaster’s office. Volunteer Siddharth Jena, 23, sat next to him with a laptop that has numbered pictures of every body recovered and sent to the school since Friday night. On Saturday, Odisha chief secretary Pradip Jena told News 18 that over 150 bodies remain unidentified. In an accident of this scale, there are not just bodies but parts or even human remains that makes the process of identification even more difficult. It is also taking longer than usual due to the poor condition of the bodies. Also Read: Odisha train accident: When Coromandel Express derailed 14 years ago on another dark Friday Many passengers were travelling in unreserved coaches, so there are no ticketing records to refer to. Representatives of the Bangladesh High Commission, too, are searching for four to five Bangladeshi citizens, who were on the Coromandel Express. It is painful to search for the dead but there is also the legal aspect. “If a person is missing, then getting a death certificate is a problem,” a senior police officer told News 18. “The missing victim’s family will not get any legal benefits. A DNA test will be conducted, which has to be matched.” Corridors lined with corpses The stench of rotting flesh hung in the air around the school. Dozens of people sat outside its gates hoping to find their missing relatives. Once a family has identified their relative from photos, they are given a receipt that allows them to view the body. But it has been far from simple. “We received 179 bodies here, but only 45 of them could be identified,” said Ranajit Nayak, the police officer in charge of releasing the bodies. [caption id=“attachment_12691412” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Bodies are seen at a high school used as temporary mortuary to identify the dead recovered from the deadly train crash in Odisha. AFP[/caption] Bodies in white bags tagged “identified” or “unidentified” lined both sides of the blood-stained corridor late on Saturday, with others stored in classrooms. “There were bodies with only a torso, an entirely burnt face, disfigured skull and no other visible identity markers left,” Nayak said. “Did you expect that this identification would be easy for anyone?” Work began late on Saturday to move unidentified bodies to a centre with better facilities to preserve the bodies for relatives travelling longer distances. Unidentified corpses will then be moved to permanent city morgues. Also read: Odisha derailment: Why do trains keep going off track in India? For some, like Abhijit Chakrabarty, 27, from neighbouring West Bengal state, the wait was over. He saw a photograph with a bracelet worn by his missing 25-year-old brother-in-law Subhashish. But others continued their desperate search. Agarwal, the official at the school, warned that some families might have to take DNA tests to provide matches. Noor Jamal Mondon, 38, from Bardhaman district in West Bengal, has heard nothing from his missing brother Yaad Ali, 35. “We’ve checked all the hospitals and the crash site throughout the day,” said Mondon, an imam at a mosque. “We are now looking at the dead bodies at the morgue once again.” Arrangements for those who are still looking For those who are still searching for their loved ones, the state government has posted lists and photographs of the dead as well as the injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals, on three websites to facilitate identification. The websites are www.srcodisha.nic.in, www.bmc.gov.in and www.osdma.org. At the same time, two toll-free numbers- 18003450061 and 1929 have also been issued. However, it has been asked that the photos should be used for none other than identification purposes. Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has established a control room, from where, with vehicles, people will be directed to either hospital or mortuary as the case may be. In a related development, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for the victims of the Bahanaga train tragedy that so far claimed the lives of as many as 275 people. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.