All the passengers from the state on board the trains that met with an accident near Balasore of Odisha are safe, Karnataka Railways DIG Shashi Kumar said on Saturday.
While speaking to the media, Shashi Kumar explained that the train which left from Karnataka had also suffered damage. Among the 23 coaches, three have been affected.
As of now, there is no information on the presence of any passenger from the state in these coaches. The railway officials are in touch with the authorities in Odisha since the accident, the DIG said.
Helplines have been set up at four locations and there are no reports of any passenger from the state suffering injuries or being dead, he reiterated.
The coaches in which people from Karnataka travelled have not been damaged in the incident. A team of officers of the rank of DySP and others would be sent to the spot, DIG Shashi Kumar explained.
"We have started four help desks and received no calls so far. False information should not be given and till now no news of deaths of passengers from Karnataka has been received," he stated.
Sources explained that 110 passengers travelled in the Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (Bengaluru)- Howrah Express train which met with an accident on Friday. Fortunately, all of them escaped unhurt in the tragedy.
The passengers hailed from Kalasa town of Chikkamagaluru district and travelled from Bengaluru in S5, S6 and S7 coaches.
After the engine was changed, all of them were shifted to the first coach after the engine. The last four coaches suffered severe damages after being hit by another train, sources explained.
On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will on Saturday visit the site of the tragic train derailment in Odisha's Balasore district to take stock of the situation.
She will be leaving for Balasore on board a special helicopter which will take off from a helipad in Dumurjala, Howrah district.
Since the Coromandel Express had left for the ill-fated journey on Friday evening from the Shalimar Station in Shibpur area of Howrah, there was speculation that some of the victims might hail from Bengal, state government sources said.
Hence the Chief Minister has decided to personally visit the spot to take a review of the situation, they added.
On the instructions of Banerjee, a 12-member medical team accompanied by 25 ambulances and two hearse carriers have already reached the accident spot to provide assistance in the ongoing relief and rescue operations.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari is also arranging to send some ambulances to the accident site.
The state BJP president and the party Lok Sabha member Sukanta Majumdar has already reached the accident spot.
Earlier a six-member representation team from West Bengal led by state minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia and party MP Dola Sen had arrived at the accident spot late Friday night.
According to Sen, the state governments of both West Bengal and Odisha are jointly conducting the rescue operations.
"The team from West Bengal have already started to work on how to assist in relief and rescue operations," she said.