Odisha train tragedy: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee questions official death figures

With the Odisha train tragedy snowballing into a political slugfest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday raised questions over the official death figures in the triple train crash in Balasore.

Addressing a press conference at the State secretariat, Nabanna, she said 62 from West Bengal alone died and 206 are undergoing treatment at different hospitals in West Bengal. 

Of the 73 injured passengers who were undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Odisha, 56 have been discharged. But 182 are yet to be identified, she said, adding it will take 10 days to collect information about the missing persons.

"If from one state, 182 are missing and 62 are confirmed dead, then where would the figures stand?" she asked.

Mentioning the mishap of the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express on the second day of its inauguration, she wished to know about the efficacy of the engines of the Vande Bharat Express. 

"The name Vande Bharat is good, but you have seen what happened that day when a tree branch fell on it," she said, about a mishap the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat suffered on the second day after its inauguration.

Notably, yesterday when she was at the accident site and taking stock of the situation, she and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were engaged in a verbal duel over the death toll and the absence of an anti-collision device.

According to officials, at least 275 people were killed and over 1000 in the Balasore train crash involving two passenger trains and a goods train.