Odisha Train Crash: Mamata Banerjee Slams Lack of Anti- Collision Device, Announces Aid

BALASORE: On June 2, in the evening, a horrific rail accident involving two passenger express and a goods trains in the Balasore district of Odisha was believed to have killed at least 290 passengers and badly injured more than 900 others.

The devastating rail disaster, which has been called one of the deadliest in recent memory, has drawn sympathy and assistance from the neighbouring states.

The scene of the nearby train tragedy in Balasore, Odisha, will be visited by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday, a senior official announced.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, criticised the lack of an "anti-collision device" on the Coromandel express and referred to the recent train catastrophe in Odisha as the "biggest" instance of its kind in the twenty-first century.

“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 cases are handed over to Railway's safety commission and they investigate and give a report...There was no anti-collision device on the train, as far as I know. Had the device been on the train, this would not have happened," Banerjee said.

The Bengal Chief Minister conveyed her grief over the tragic incident in which three trains crashed in a terrifying sequence, one on top of the other, in the Balasore district of Odisha, killing at least 233 people and injuring more than 900 others. For almost the entire night, the Bengal CM monitored the situation from her home in Kalighat.

The chief minister of Bengal has vowed to provide the government of Odisha with all possible assistance for the search and rescue operations and medical treatment for the injured.

"Railway provides Rs 10 lakh as compensation. We will provide Rs 5 lakh each to the people of our state and cooperate and work with the Railways and Odisha Government until the work is complete," she said.

"We sent 40 ambulances yesterday and 70 today. Forty of our doctors have reached here and they are working," she added.

Manas Bhuniya, a West Bengal minister, and Dola Sen, an MP for the Trinamool Congress, headed a delegation that arrived late on Friday night to the scene of the railway accident.

ALSO READ: Odisha Train Crash: PM Modi Arrives, Railway Minister Vaishnaw Vows Probe as Toll Rises to 290 and Beyond

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