Two months on, 29 bodies from Odisha train tragedy still unidentified

These bodies remain preserved in five containers at the AIIMS Bhubaneswar while the remaining 266 have been have been handed over to the relatives of the deceased people

Bhubaneswar: Of the 295 people killed in the triple-train accident in Odisha’s Bahanaga Bazar Railway station two months ago, 29 bodies are still awaiting identification, an official said.

These bodies remain preserved in five containers at the AIIMS Bhubaneswar while the remaining 266 have been have been handed over to the relatives of the deceased people.

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Superintendent of AIIMS Bhubaneswar Prof Dilip Kumar Parida said that after the June 2 accident, they had received a total of 162 bodies from different hospitals and the accident site, of which 81 were handed given to their family members in the first phase.

The remaining 81 bodies could not be identified initially as there were multiple claimants and a few other issues, Parida said.

On the basis of DNA test results, 52 more bodies were handed over to their families and 29 still remained unidentified.

The bodies which do not match the DNA of claimants would not be given to anyone according to the rule, he said.

“The central and state governments and the railways will decide on what to do with these bodies. AIIMS Bhubaneswar has no role. It is assigned just to preserve the bodies,” Parida said.

On July 29, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation cremated the mortal remains of two victims – Dinesh Yadav (31) from Jharkhand and Suresh Ray (23) from Bihar –after their family members expressed reluctance to take the bodies.

Kailash Kumar, a relative of Hardev Kumar from Dumka area in Jharkhand has been awaiting the identification of his brother’s body after submitting his DNA sample. But, he is yet to get any confirmation.

“I hope my brother’s body will be identified in the last phase of the DNA sampling report. I will wait till the end,” Kailash Kumar said.

Three trains involving Chennai-bound Coromandel Express from Shalimar, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a stationary goods train, dashed with each other taking 295 lives and over 1200 others injured.