By Jose Kavi

New Delhi, June 3, 2023: Pope Francis on June 3 joined those expressing sorrow at the Odisha train accident that killed around 300 people and wounded more than 800 others.

The Pope said he was “deeply saddened” by the “immense loss of life” caused by three-train collision on June 2 in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, considered the country’s deadliest rail accident in more than 20 years.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 3 visited the train accident site and met with injured people at hospitals in Cuttack, a major city in Odisha.

After meeting the victims, Modi said that it was a painful incident and those found guilty will be punished. He said the government will spare no efforts for the treatment of the wounded.

“It’s a serious incident, instructions issued for probe from every angle. Those found guilty will be punished stringently. Railway is working towards track restoration. I met the injured victims,” he added.

The accident happened at around 7 pm on June 2 when the Coromandel Express and the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express collided at Odisha’s Balasore. A goods train was also involved in the accident.

The accident occurred on the Howrah-Chennai main line in the Kharagpur division of the South Eastern Railway. The crash happened near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) too expressed deep sadness over the train accident.

“The CBCI expresses its prayers and sympathies on the sad demise of so many people and prays for quick recovery of the injured. It also calls on the government to find out the cause of such a huge mishap and to take steps to see that in future such massive tragedies are avoided,” says a message signed by the CBCI president Archbishop Andrews Thazhath.

Pope Francis offered his prayers and condolences and assured all affected of his spiritual closeness to them

“Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of the Almighty, (Pope Francis) sends heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state said in a telegram sent to Archbishop Thazhath.

The papal message was sent through the apostolic nunciature in New Delhi. “In this painful circumstance, I join the Holy Father in offering my condolences and to assure prayers for the victims and their families and for the relief of the injured,” Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli added the message.

The CBCI welcomed the railways initiating a high-level headed by the commissioner of railway safety, South Eastern Circle probe into the train crash.

The commissioner works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and investigates all such accidents. Officials in Bhubaneswar said 200 ambulances, 50 buses and 45 mobile health units were working at the accident site, besides 1,200 personnel, noted CBCI statement.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishna on June 3 announced the probe and said, “The accident was unfortunate, and the rescue operation began shortly after the incident was reported to his ministry,” the minister told reporters.

The ministry has announced an ex-gratia of 1 million rupees to the kin of the deceased, 200,000 rupees to the severely wounded and 50,000 to those with minor injuries.

The accident has led to the cancellation of 48 trains, diversion of 39 others and short termination of 10 trains.