NEW DELHI: At least 261 people were killed and around 900 injured when three trains collided in Odisha’s Balasore, officials said on Saturday, the country’s worst train accident in more than 20 years. According to reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the train accident site and meet the injured in hospitals in Cuttack. He also convened a high-level meeting with railway officials.
Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a freight train were involved in the accident.

During this accident, one train collided with another so hard that the carriages were lifted high into the air, spun, and broke the tracks. Another car was thrown completely onto its roof, crushing the passenger compartment.

“Everything was shaking and we felt the coach overturning,” Sanjay Mukiya, a daily wage laborer traveling to Chennai on the Coromandel-Shalimar Express, told NDTV showing his injuries.

According to another survivor, severed limbs were scattered among the torn metal rubble.

“I was sleeping when the train derailed. About 10-15 people fell on me. When I came out of the coach, I saw people scattered everywhere, a leg here, an arm there…somebody’s face was mutilated,” said the survivor.

Railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said that the rescue operations have been completed and attention has been given to rescue operations.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that a high-level committee will be formed to investigate the train accident.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has declared a day of state mourning to condemn this terrible train accident.

Mr. Vaishnav announced a compensation of ₹ 10 lakh for those who died in the accident, ₹ 2 lakh for those seriously injured and ₹ 50,000 for those with minor injuries.

Prime Minister Modi also expressed his grief over the accident and announced ₹ 2 lakh to the family of the deceased and ₹ 50,000 to the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted that she was monitoring the situation in person along with the Chief Secretary and other senior officials.

48 trains have been cancelled, 39 routes and 10 trains have been halted for a short period of time due to the accident on Kharagpur section of South Eastern Railway on Howrah-Chennai main line.