Odisha train accident: CM Patnaik announces free bus services to Kolkata

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced free bus service to Kolkata following the Balasore triple train tragedy that claimed 288 lives.

"To benefit commuters more, CM Naveen Patnaik has announced free bus service to Kolkata from Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack from today," said the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) Odisha. Meanwhile, around 50 buses ply daily between Kolkata and the above mentioned three Odisha cities.

All the expenses will be met from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and this arrangement will continue till normal train service resumes on the Balasore route.

The catastrophic train accident has so far claimed 288 lives and injured more than 1,000 people.

Earlier today, Chief Minister Patnaik announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 crore to each kin of the deceased state. The victims of the train accident are being treated in various government and private hospitals between Bhubaneswar and Balasore, it said.

On Saturday, the Odisha CM reached the accident site and took stock of the situation at Odisha's Balasore, where a passenger train collided with a goods train, leaving several injured.

Meanwhile, restoration work is underway in Odisha's Balasore, where a horrific accident involving two passenger trains and a goods wagon took place.

A preliminary report on the tragedy said the three-way accident involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and freight trains on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore district. As many as 17 carriages of these two passenger trains were derailed and seriously damaged in the accident on Friday evening.