The search for injured and dead passengers at the site of one of India’s worst train crashes has officially ended, railway officials said on Monday.
But for many, quite a few of them from Bengal, the search is far from over.
They are scurrying hospitals and morgues in Balasore, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar for their near and dear ones.
“The situation is sickening. Many of the bodies have been disfigured to an extent that identification is challenging for family and friends. Some of them have bloated, the faces of some are beyond recognition,” said a medical official of the railways, who was in Balasore.
In such a situation, officials are counting on DNA identification.
“Many bodies were already disfigured when brought to the morgues, almost 30 hours after the accident. In this scorching heat, several bodies had started decomposing,” said another railway official.
On Monday, the railways shared three links. The first — https://srcodisha.nic.in/Photos%20Of%20Deceased%20with%20Disclaimer.pdf — led to photographs of dead passengers.
The second — https://www.bmc.gov.in/train-accident/download/Lists-of-Passengers-Undergoing-Treatment-inDifferent-Hospitals_040620230830.pdf — led to pictures of those “undergoing treatment at different hospitals”.
The third — https://www.bmc.gov.in/train-accident/download/Unidentified-person-undertreatment-at-SCBCuttack.pdf — led to “unidentified persons under treatment at SCB (Medical College and Hospital) Cuttack”.
At 9pm on Monday, the third link showed three pictures.
“In order to facilitate the families of those who are still unaware about whereabouts of their relatives in the unfortunate Rail accident in Bahanaga, Odisha, Indian Railways with the support of Odisha Government has taken an initiative to locate them. The family members/relatives/friends and well wishers of the passengers affected in this unfortunate accident can locate using the link of photos of deceased, lists of passengers admitted in different hospitals and also about unidentified bodies,” a railway release said.
“Given the nature of the accident, the images posted are disturbing. It is advised that children avoid viewing these images.... None (Media/ Individual/ Firms etc) shall reproduce/publish and use the images for any purpose without prior written approval of the Special Relief Commissioner, Odisha,” the release said.
Three members of a family from Birbhum and one CRPF jawan from Bankura were among those from Bengal who were still not traceable, multiple TV channels reported throughout the day.
The Odisha government had struggled to find space in morgues to accommodate those killed in the triple-train accident at Balasore. The railway has said 275 people died in the crash.
The mortuaries in Balasore were not able to accommodate so many bodies. So many were moved to Bhubaneswar, 200km away, where they were accommodated in different morgues.
The bodies of 90 people from Bengal have been identified, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday.
She said she will travel to Cuttack on Tuesday to meet around 53 patients from Bengal who were being treated there.