Odisha Train Accident: What We Know About the Collision Between Three Trains

One passenger train derailed and hit a goods train, which collided with a second passenger train, an official said.

Visuals from the crash site.

(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)

Video Producer/Editor: Shohini Bose

At least 261 people have died, and over 900 were injured in a massive train accident on Friday, 2 June, after the Coromandel Express and the Bengaluru-Howrah Express derailed in Odisha's Balasore. 

(Illustration: The Quint/Aroop Mishra)

Here's the sequence of events:

• A goods train (travelling on the downline) was asked to stop near a railway crossing on the loop track to let an express train pass.

• The second (main) line was cleared to let Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express (12841) pass (on the upline), but for some reason, the Coromandel Express changed tracks and driving into the goods train, which resulted in some coaches landing on top of the goods train.

• At the same time, Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express (12864) was travelling in the opposite direction (downline).

• At the time of the collision, the engine of the Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express and some coaches had passed the goods train.

• But when the Coromandel Express hit the goods train and got derailed, it hit the remaining coaches of Yeshwantpur-Howrah, and 3-4 coaches of the second train got derailed.

An investigation has been launched to find out why the Coromandel Express changed track and ended up on the loop track.

According to the Indian Railways, a total of 21 coaches got derailed that resulted in hundreds of casualties and injuries.

The accident happened around 7 pm near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore district of Odisha.