3 WOMEN KILLED, CHILD AMONG SEVEN INJURED AS GOODS TRAIN DERAILS IN ODISHA

JAJPUR (ODISHA): A goods train derailed at Korai railway station in Odisha’s Jajpur district on Monday morning, with wagons ploughing into waiting passengers, killing at least three of them, all women, and injuring seven others, including a twoand-half-year-old child, officials said.

East Coast Railway (ECoR) officials said that the accident took place at 6.44 am when some people were waiting at the platform and the waiting hall for a passenger train.

Station staffers said that the loco pilot of the empty goods train moving from Dongoaposi to Chhatrapur applied sudden brakes, causing eight wagons to derail and plough into the passengers on the platform and the waiting hall.

Jajpur Additional District Magistrate Akshay Kumar Mallick said that some derailed wagons climbed the foot-over-bridge and fell on the waiting hall and ticket counter.

All the wagons were later removed from the tracks and nobody is likely to be trapped underneath the debris, a senior police officer said.

Of the seven injured, the condition of one is serious but stable while six others were discharged after being administered first aid. Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Shibashis Maharana said three women have died in the incident, including a motherdaughter.

The deceased have been identified as Parbati Bindhani, her daughter Kandhei and Absum Bibi. A two-and-half-year-old child, who was with the Bindhanis, miraculously survived the accident. Kandhu Bindhani, who was not present at the spot, said his mother and sister were waiting for a local train to Cuttack, where they were going for treatment.

Kandhei’s husband said he was with the mother-son duo and had gone outside the railway station when the accident took place. Families of the deceased have demanded ₹50 lakh as compensation or a permanent job in the Railways for a member.

In videos that have gone viral on social media, derailed wagons were seen strewn across both platforms with axles lying on the railway tracks.