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Rescue work at mishap site completed

Manik Banerjee in Gaisal (West Bengal)

The railway authorities have completed rescue work at the Gaisal accident site and extricated almost all the bodies from the wreckage. The tracks have been cleared for normal movement of trains.

North Eastern Frontier Railway Chief Personnel Officer S K Sood today said they have extricated 285 bodies and removed them to the North Bengal medical college hospital in Siliguri and the New Jalpaiguri railway hospital.

State health officials engaged in rescue work also said there were no more bodies left in the debris of the Avadh-Assam Express and the Brahmaputra Mail that collided head-on in the early hours of Monday.

The bodies are being preserved there till the arrival of their relatives for identification.

Sood said it would not be possible to cremate the bodies before August 7 as it would take time for the relatives to come from far away places like Delhi by a special train.

Railway officials said goods trains are moving on the tracks as they have been cleared of the debris.

Railway sources said of the 13 damaged bogies, two have not been 'so badly affected'. Four compartments along with the two engines 'have been twisted beyond recognition'.

Sood said the casualty in both the trains was almost equal.

UNI

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