More than 50 bodies yet to be claimed a month after traumatic India train tragedy

Investigators have so far pointed out ‘lapses at multiple levels’ that led to tragedy in India’s Odisha state

The bodies of over 50 people who died from a horrendous three-train collision in India that killed 293 passengers and injured at least 1,000 are yet to be claimed.

The traumatic accident that occurred in eastern India’s Odisha state more than a month ago on 2 June was labelled as the country’s deadliest rail accident in a century.

Investigators so far have pointed out that there were “lapses at multiple levels” after the Balasore Coromandel Express incorrectly diverted away from a clear main track to a side loop, where it ploughed into a stationary freight train.

This caused the engine and the first four or five coaches of the overcrowded Chennai-bound passenger train to jump the tracks, topple and hit the last two coaches of the Yesvantpur-Howrah train that was heading in the opposite direction on a second main track.

Now, slightly over a month later, the bodies of 52 victims are either yet to be identified or are yet to be claimed by anyone. The bodies have been kept in a deep freezer at the AIIMS hospital in Odisha state capital Bhubaneswar.

It was reported that some of the bodies are unrecognisable, making the identification process even more challenging.

Shiv Charan from West Bengal has now spent more than a month looking for his brother Krishna, the BBC reported. He stays in a hotel close to the hospital where the unclaimed bodies have been kept.

Mr Charan has also sent his samples for DNA testing.

“No one has told me when the report will come,” he was quoted as saying. “I want his last rites to be performed properly.”

Last week, 29 bodies were identified thanks to DNA testing, but the process is yet to conclude for 52 other bodies.

More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India every day, travelling on 64,000km of track.

Meanwhile, the investigation by the country’s Commissioner of Railway Safety found that the “wrong labelling of wires” inside the level-crossing location box remained “undetected for years” and ultimately led to a mix up during maintenance work.

Railway officials investigating the collision said the accident could have been averted if due procedures had been followed by running checks on the circuit which sets points on rail tracks, connecting the location box with the relay or control room, reported The Hindu newspaper.