Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakhs for the kin of West Bengal residents who lost their lives in a train accident that took place on Friday evening involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Coromandel Express and a goods train and took stock of the situation. Addressing the media at the accident site, Banerjee said “Railway has announced Rs 10 lakhs as compensation. We will provide Rs 5 lakhs each to the people of our state and cooperate and work with the Railways and Odisha Government until the work is complete.”
#BalasoreTrainAccident | West Bengal government announces a compensation of Rs 5 lakhs each for the next of kin of those people from the state who died in the accident. Rs 1 Lakh each announced for those with serious injuries and Rs 50,000 each for those with minor injuries: West… pic.twitter.com/8T7l7Yu3of
— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2023
Banerjee also said there was no anti-collision device installed on the train and had the device been there, the accident could be avoided. “Coromandel is one of the best express trains. I was the railway minister thrice. From what I saw, this is the biggest railway accident of the 21st century,” she said.
#WATCH | At the site of #BalasoreTrainAccident, West Bengal CM and former Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee says, "Coromandel is one of the best express trains. I was the Railway Minister thrice. From what I saw, this is the biggest railway accident of the 21st century. Such… pic.twitter.com/aOCjfoCbvF
— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2023
At least 261 people have died in India’s worst rail accident in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in the east of the country. One train in Friday’s accident also hit a freight train parked nearby in the district of Balasore in Odisha state, leaving a tangled mess of smashed rail cars and injuring 650. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.