On Friday evening, a tragic train accident took place in Odisha’s Balasore, when two Express trains collided that has claimed the lives of 288 people and more than hundreds of passengers are left inured, the rescue operations is underway.

Railway Spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said, at around 7 PM in the evening, about 10-12 coaches of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed and fell on the opposite track, after a while, the Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express rammed into the derailed coaches of Coromandel express that resulted to the derailment of its own coaches.

The dreadful accident has taken place near the Bahanga railway station in Balasore district of Odisha, which is around 120 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

Reports said, a three-way accident took place and involves a good carriage train in the accident.

While no official confirmation has been received on the total death toll, reports claimed more than 50 people are already dead with the numbers substantially increasing and around 300 are injured.

Some local channels of Odisha have reported, over 70 dead and around 350 injured.

The Central and state government along with the railway department have mounted a huge rescue operation but is finding it extremely difficult to clear and rush the injured to the nearest medical facilities.

National and State Disaster Management teams along with fire fighting teams and other rescue operation teams are already in place carrying out the rescue operations.

At-least 50 ambulances and 15 fire operations team from the neighbouring districts were rushed to save the trapped passengers, said to be in hundreds in number.

The government has also issued dedicated helpline numbers for various affected regions.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed about compensation to the victims. Rs 10 lakh is announced for the deceased family members, Rs 2 lakh for critically injured and Rs 50,000 for minor injured victims.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik rushed to the state control room to personally take stock of the situation and direct measures for the rescue and relief operations.

Patnaik informed he will fly to the spot in the first thing in morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his grief over the terrible accident expressed his thoughts with the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the inured.

PM Modi assured all possible assistance to the affected.

After the stunning silence from Indian cricketers over women wrestlers’ protest against sexual harassment by Wrestling Federation of India chief, the World Cup 1983 winning team has come out in support of the protesting athletes.

They issued a joint statement on Friday condemning the way protesting wrestlers were manhandled by Delhi Police on May 28. The statement has been put out in the name of current BCCI boss Roger Binny, veteran cricketers Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, K Srikkanth, Syed Kirmani, Yashpal Sharma (now deceased), Madan Lal, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Sandeep Patil and Kirti Azad. Kapil Dev said the statement on the wrestlers is not an individual thing but the whole of the 1983 team stands by it.

The veteran cricketers said they were concerned by the fact that the wrestlers were going to immerse their hard-earned Olympic medals into the Ganga. They were shocked that the situation has come to such a pass that wrestlers are thinking of dumping their hard-earned medals into the Ganga because their medals were a result of years of effort, sacrifice, determination, and grit. The cricketers were unanimous that those medals don’t belong to the agitated wrestlers alone but with the nation’s pride and joy. They said they are distressed and disturbed at the unusual visuals of champion wrestlers being manhandled.

The protest has also been heartbreaking, the statement said, since it wrestlers who should be on the practice mat are out on the roads. The 1983 team added they are not in favour throwing their medals away because earning medals isn’t easy and urged the Government to sort out the issue as soon as possible.

Champion wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia have been protesting in Delhi, demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers. Last Tuesday, they went to Haridwar to immerse their medals in the Ganga but changed plans with the intervention of farmer’s leaders. 

Under the leadership of Kapil Dev, the Indian cricket team won the country’s first World Cup trophy in 1983 beating the then cricketing superpower, the West Indies.

Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was forced into postponing a show of strength rally he had organised in Ayodhya with the help of prominent sants in the area. In a Facebook post, Singh said the event planned for June 5 had been postponed the Jan Chetna Maha Rally for a few days due to the police investigation into the women wrestlers’ allegation against him and the directions of the Supreme Court.

The decision was also prefaced by the Ayodhya district administration denying him permission to hold the rally in Ayodhya on June 5. The sants had called for a Sant Sammelan and the same event had been described as a Jan Chetna Maha Rally by Singh. The event would have seen the participation of some 11 lakh people.

Singh, BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh, has been on the mat ever since women wrestlers’ accused him of sexual harassment. Circle Officer (Ayodhya) SP Gautam said due to other programmes scheduled on World Environment Day on June 5, the permission sought by BJP councillor Chamela Devi on behalf of Singh has been denied. DM Nitish Kumar cited the same reason for denial of permission.

Wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting since April 23 accusing Singh of sexual harassment.

Earlier, the MP had said he will address a rally in Ayodhya with the blessings of sadhus. His motive was to signal that he had the support of sadhus of Ayodhya, pitting the holy men against the wrestlers who have drawn the support of powerful khaps in western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had said earlier the rally would seek to pressure the Central government to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to prevent its misuse.

Singh faces charges under POSCO Act apart from the Indian Penal Code since one of the wrestlers who had accused him of sexual harassment is a minor. He also said there had been misuse of the Act all over the country and there was an urgent need to amend it. The MP met several sadhus in Ayodhya on Thursday at the Laxman Quila Mandir. Maithili Ram Sharan, the head of the temple, said Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was a religious person.