Swarna Chakraborty, Pune
Four months after the triple train accident that claimed 297 lives in Odisha’s Balasore district, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities have initiated the process of disposing of 28 unidentified bodies, an official confirmed. The civic body issued a standard operating procedure for scientifically handling the remains of these individuals, whose rightful claimants were not found.
These bodies had been stored at AIIMS Bhubaneswar since the accident occurred in June. BMC will facilitate the smooth transportation of these bodies from AIIMS to the cremation grounds at Satyanagar and Bharatpur in the city, as stated by another official.
The director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar will officially hand over the bodies to the BMC health officer, adhering to the existing rules and guidelines of the state, the Centre, and the National Human Rights Commission for the cremation process, the official mentioned. The entire process will be documented through video recording, following the SOP issued by BMC.
Initially, AIIMS Bhubaneswar had received 162 bodies, out of which 81 were handed over to the deceased’s family members in the first phase. Subsequently, another 53 bodies were given to their family members after DNA tests, but the remains of 28 individuals remain unclaimed, the official said. These bodies were stored in at least five deep freezer containers acquired from the Paradip Port Trust.
The accident involved the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Super Fast Express, and a goods train. The Coromandel Express collided with a stationary goods train, causing most of its coaches to derail around 7 pm on June 2 near the Bahanaga Bazar station. A few coaches of the Coromandel Express struck the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express, which was passing by at the same time.