Last 28 bodies from India train crash cremated. We may never know who they were

‘It is painful to see bodies being cremated in absence of family members and relatives’

Twenty-eight unidentified and unclaimed bodies of victims of India's deadliest train crash this century were finally cremated.

At least 290 people died in the eastern state of Odisha when an overcrowded Chennai-bound Coromandel Express entered a loop track and ploughed into a stationary freight train near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore in June.

The cremation came as at least four people were killed and around 100 others injured in a derailment in state of Bihar on Wednesday; 21 coaches were toppled in the accident, which is being blamed on “poor track maintenance”.

The huge crash in June caused the engine and the first four or five coaches of the Coromandel Express to jump the tracks, topple and hit the last two coaches of the Yeshvantpur-Howrah train heading in the opposite direction at 78mph on the second main track. Over 1,000 people sustained injuries in the accident.

While distressed family members frantically thronged hospitals to identify loved ones in the days following the ghastly accident, at least 50 bodies remained unclaimed by the first week of July.

Eventually, the number reduced to 28 and the unclaimed bodies were kept for three months at the morgue of All India Institute Of Medical Science, Bhubaneshwar.

The hospital said it had received 123 bodies following the crash on 4 June and another 39 were brought in from other private health facilities.

Eighty-one bodies were identified by the family members and the identity of 53 others was confirmed by DNA profiling and handed over to the families, according to the hospital.

The unclaimed bodies were handed over to the city corporation on Tuesday for cremation following the orders of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

A drone shot of rescuers work at the site of passenger trains accident, in Balasore district (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The bodies were almost in a decomposed condition, said Pradeep Prusty, 49, and his wife, Madhusmita, who cremated the bodies.

The corpses had already begun decomposing at a rapid rate in the June heat before they were brought to the cold storage facility at the hospital.

“All the bodies were swollen and well beyond recognition now. Foul smell was emanating from them. Cremation of such highly decomposed bodies is a challenge," the couple told The Telegraph.

"It is painful to see bodies being cremated in the absence of family members and relatives. ...However, in their absence, we pray for the departed souls,” Ms Madhusmita added.

"All the unclaimed bodies have been cremated according to the state government, central government and NHRC [National Human Rights Commission of India] guidelines," a senior BMC official told news agency PTI.

The official added that the DNA sample of the bodies was preserved for investigation and for legal reasons.

"Though nobody came to claim the 28 bodies in these four months, anyone may make any claim later," said Prof Pravas Tripathy, Head of the Anatomy department of AIIMS Bhubaneswar.