Odisha train crash: '19 Bihar passengers missing, 50 dead'

PATNA: At least 19 people from Bihar, who were on board the Coromandel Express, are still missing after the train accident in Odisha's Balasore district on June 2 in which 288 people were killed, said the state Disaster Management Department (DMD).

The missing 19 Bihar passengers on board the Coromandel Express include four from Madhubani district, Darbhanga (2), Muzaffarpur (2), East Champaran (2), Samastipur (2), Sitamarhi (1), Patna (1), Gaya (1), Purnea (1), Sheikhpura (1), Siwan (1) and Begusarai (1), said a statement issued by the Disaster Management department.

''At least 50 people from different Bihar districts have reportedly died and 43 sustained injuries in the Odisha train accident,'' the statement issued on Wednesday night said.

Of the 50 people from Bihar who died in the train accident, nine are from Muzaffarpur district, Madhubani (6), Bhagalpur (7), East Champaran (5), Purnea (2), West Champaran (3), Nawada (2), Darbhanga (2), Jamui (2), Samastipur (3), Banka (1), Bewguisarai (1), Gaya (1), Khagaria (3), Sharsha (1), Sitamarhi (1) and Munger (1), it said.

A team of DMD officials is providing all assistance to the officials concerned of the Odisha government in ascertaining the identity of the bodies of the unidentified passengers who died in the accident.

DNA samples of at least 12 people from Bihar were taken on Wednesday that will be matched with the samples of the unidentified bodies. At least 19 people from Bihar, who were on board the Coromandel Express, are still missing, the statement said.

The Bihar government has already sent a team of officials to Balasore to provide necessary assistance to train passengers hailing from the state.

Officials are coordinating with the Odisha government, railways and Balasore district administration and providing necessary help to the train passengers hailing from Bihar.

Steps are also being taken to bring back the affected passengers to Bihar from the train accident site in Balasore. ''So far 88 passengers of Bihar have been brought back to the state by bus'', said the DMD.

The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches at 7 pm on June 2. A few of those toppled over the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time.

In all, 288 people died in the accident and more than 1,200 were injured.