Odisha govt revises train accident toll to 288; 205 bodies identified

The Odisha government on Tuesday revised the death toll in the Balasore train crash to 288.

Speaking to reporters, chief secretary PK Jena said, 275 deaths were confirmed till Monday, and after verification of the bodies, the figure was raised to 288.

Jena said that 205 bodies of the total 288 have been identified so far and handed over to their families.

The remaining 83 bodies were kept at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar and other hospitals for identification, he said.

"We have received many queries on the helpline numbers released by the government. We are optimistic that all the bodies will be identified," Jena said.

The government had reported the toll figure of 288 earlier as well, but then revised it downwards to 275, stating that some of the bodies were counted twice. It was then raised to 278, and further to 288 again.

Jena said the state government was bearing the cost of treatment of the injured, and transportation of bodies to respective destinations.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sanctioned Rs 1.95 crore for ex-gratia payment to the families of 39 deceased persons from Odisha.

According to the government, Rs 5 lakh will be given to the kin of each deceased person as ex-gratia. The money was being provided from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF).

The train accident in Balasore, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train transporting iron ore, happened around 7 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station.