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Train crash toll mounts to 189, 26 train services restored

One hundred and 88 bodies have so far been extricated from the Frontier Mail-Sealdah Express accident site near Khanna railway station in Ludhiana district.

The death toll in yesterday's tragedy has risen to 189, with one of those admitted to Ludhiana's Dayanand Medical College hospital, Kamal Kumar, succumbing to his injuries.

Railway and police officials said there was still a possibility of extricating more bodies from the mangled remains of the two trains. Rescue and relief operations were continuing.

Altogether 109 bodies of the victims had so far been identified and handed over to their relatives. The unidentified bodies have been placed inside a control room at the Patiala Medical College. Many of the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition, the officials said.

Traffic on the Ludhiana-Ambala-Delhi line had been restored by 1800 hours, railway officials said.

Seven hydraulic cranes were pressed into service to clear the wreckage of the two trains.

Twentysix major trains were restored today, while seven will be restored tomorrow, according to a Northern Railway release.

The express trains that were restored today were Kalka-Amritsar, Ganga-Sutlej Express ex Firozpur, Amritsar-Howrah, Sealdah Express ex Jammu Tawi, Shane-e-Punjab, Chattisgarh Express ex Delhi, Chattisgarh Express ex Amritsar, ex New Delhi, Golden Temple Mail ex Amritsar, Jan Sewa Express ex Amritsar, Amritsar-Howrah ex Amritsar, Jammu-Sealdah, Himgiri Express, Muri Express, Jammu Mail ex Jammu Tawi, Jammu Mail ex Delhi, Shalimar Express ex New Delhi, Shalimar Express ex Jammu Tawi, New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi ex New Delhi, Jhelum Express ex Jammu Tawi, Jhelum Express ex New Delhi, Puja Express ex Delhi, Puja Express ex Jammu Tawi, Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi ex Amritsar, Paschim Express ex New Delhi and Swaraj Express ex Jammu Tawi.

The trains being restored tomorrow are New Delhi-Jalandhar, Amritsar-New Delhi, Howrah-Amritsar Express to arrive Amritsar, Ganga-Sutlej to arrive Ferozepur, Howrah-Amritsar Mail ex Ambala, Amritsar-Howrah Express ex Amritsar and Howrah-Amritsar Express ex Ambala.

Meanwhile, a round-the-clock information centre has been set up in Patiala to assist relatives of victims in yesterday's train accident.

The telephone numbers of the centre are 0175-301100 and 0175-302400 and the fax number 0175-21255.

All unclaimed bodies will be shifted to the Patiala Medical College, according to district authorities.

The medical college reception will also provide information on telephone number 0175-304634.

Assistance booths will also be opened at the Patiala railway and bus stations and the district administration will make arrangements for the relatives to transport the bodies.

The list of those injured in the accident:

Vinod Kumar Singh, (Rohtas district, Bihar), Vinod Singh (Gaya), Vinkowa, Gurvinder singh, Smt Gayare, Mohan Lal, Kuldip Kumar, Shatul Jain (Bhogpur UP), Lakesh, Smt Puja, Banaras, Prem Shaukla, Allahabad (UP); Jai Chand, Jodhpur; Smt Satya (Jammu); Smt Neelam, Ms Ramai, (Sarangpur, UP), Shiva, Kapil, Dehradun; Rafiq Ahmed, Kupwara (Jammu); Smt Jaipali, Sarangpur (UP), Shashi Dhawan, Mohan Lal, Sarangpur (UP), Vijay Kumar, Nirmal Kumar, Joginder Kumar, Gokal, Mrs Balbir Kaur, Gulab C Gupta. Mrs Sadna Sharma, Mrs Tripta, Mrs Kanta, Sat Samud, Satpal Singh, Dinesh Kumar, Parnam, Dhruv, Sunil Dua, Shiva, Umesh Kumar, Sher Singh, Ms Neelam, Gurvinder Singh, Mrs Sumitra, Mrs Sarla Daga, Lalit Mohan, Mohammed Rizak, Mrs Rani, Darshan Lal, Lal Mohammed, Mrs Pinki Jaswal, Shiv Charan, Kabir Hussan, Varinder Singh Pawar, Rahul Singh, Mrs Sarni Sehgal, Krishna, Rafi Ahmed (JK), V N Sehgal, (Rajinder Nagar, UP), Mohar Singh, Sharanpur (UP), Poola (Banaras), Lakash (Amritsar), Gayatri (Amritsar), Jai Chand (Ludhiana, Punjab), Mohammed Maqbul (Kupwara, Jammu), Kuldip Singh (Rameshgarh, Jammu), Kamal Kumar (Ludhiana, Punjab), M K Singh (CRPF camp, Jammu), B K Soni (Batala, Punjab), Jai Mal Verma (CRPF camp, Jammu), Kasif Ahmed (Anantnag, J and K), Bimla, Rafiq Ahmed (Kupwara, Jammu), Balbir Kaur, Ms B K Sharma, Mrs Saroj Sehgal, Mrs Sarita, Shastri Ohri, Ram Saroj, Vishan Bhagat, Manjit Kaur, Jasdip Singh, Aradhan Jaswal, Sunil Dua, Rafiq Ahmed Pir, Farooq Ahmed Bhat, Navel Robin, Bala Subranmaniam, Nirmal Kumar Mandal, Shimla Devi, Rahul Singh, Gokul, Udhe Kumar, Gulam, Mohammed, Shastri Bhusan Sharma, Krishana Devi, Dulit Mohan Singh. train accident-website

UNI

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