Authorities at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have initiated a process of disposing of the 28 unidentified bodies from the triple-train accident in Odisha. It has been four months since the three-train collision claimed 297 lives in Balasore district of the state.
The civic body issued a standard operating procedure for scientifically disposing of the remains of the 28 people whose rightful claimants were not found, an official told PTI. The bodies, which were kept in the AIIMS Bhubaneswar since June, will be cremated on Tuesday.
“The bodies will be handed over to the corporation in the presence of CBI officials and we are planning for the cremation on Tuesday,” BMC Mayor Sulochana Das told reporters in Bhubaneswar.
Sources told PTI that the BMC initiated the process after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had been probing into the accident, wrote to the Khurda district collector, requesting the disposal of the bodies.
The BMC will make arrangements for smooth transportation of the bodies from AIIMS to the cremation ground at Satyanagar and Bharatpur in the city, an official said, where AIIMS Bhubaneswar director will officially hand them over to the BMC health officer following the guidelines of the state, the Centre, and the National Human Rights Commission for cremation.
The entire process will be video-graphed.
Out of 162 bodies sent to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, 81 were handed over to the family members in the first phase after the accident. Another 53 bodies were handed to the families following DNA tests. However, 28 bodies remained unclaimed and were kept in deep freezer containers procured from the Paradip Port Trust.
The collision of the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Super Fast Express and a stationary goods train was one of the worst train accidents in recent history in India.
The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches around 7 pm on June 2 near the Bahanaga Bazar station. A few coaches of the Coromandel Express whiplashed the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time.
