No Intention To Hide: Odisha Govt On Manipulation Of Crash Toll Allegation

Odisha government on Sunday clarified that it has no intention to hide the deaths in the Odisha triple train crash and the entire rescue operation was being conducted in a transparent manner.

Reacting to allegations that the death count figure was being manipulated, Chief Secretary PK Jena said "Media persons are very much present at the accident site since the beginning. Everything is being done in the presence of cameras," he said.

"The railways had stated the death count as 288. We also said that, and the figure was based on information from the railways. But, our Balasore District Collector has verified the death count, and the figure stood at 275," he said.

Asked about the difference in the death count, Jena said it was due to the double counting of some bodies.

The chief secretary further clarified that there was also no prohibition on the entry of media persons at the accident site. "The rescue and even restoration activities went on in full public view," he said.

The clarification comes a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the Centre over the Odisha train tragedy and questioned the official death toll in the tragedy.

"Yesterday both Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan were standing with me but I didn't say anything. I could have said a lot because I myself have been Railway Minister. Why Coromandel Express and Bengaluru-Howrah Express didn't have anti-collision devices? The Railways have been left to be sold," Mamata said.

"How come the information given by the Ministry differs so much? The figures have been changing from morning to evening. Daal mein kuch kaala hai," she added.

The Odisha triple train crash happened near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, around 7 pm on Friday, prompting the Railway Ministry to order a CBI probe.

A total of 275 people have been killed while over 1,000 people have been injured in the tragedy.