Vijayawada: S Abdul Nazeer expresses grief over train accident, officials monitoring situation

Vijayawada : Governor S Abdul Nazeer on Saturday expressed profound grief and anguish over the train accident in Odisha.

Nearly 290 passengers died and over 1,000 were injured in the accident involving three trains.

The Governor offered his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members and wished for early recovery of the injured, said a statement shared by the Raj Bhavan on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 68 passengers belonging to the Vijayawada division of the South Central Railway (SCR) zone had boarded the ill-fated Coromandel Express (Train No. 12841) on Friday, whose names and contacts have been shared with 10 major railways stations within the division.

“Officials from all the departments are continuously monitoring the situation and working in shifts from our command control centre at the divisional office,” said a press note shared by Vijayawada division.

Shivendra Mohan, divisional railway manager (DRM) said that relief operations are being monitored on a real time basis, including nominating senior divisional commercial manager Rambabu Vavilapalli to gather and disseminate information regarding passengers from the Division and offering required help on the relief special trains.

Further, ticketing checking staff have been deployed at all major railway stations for offering assistance to stranded passengers and arranging help desks.

Likewise, the Andhra Pradesh police department has also swung into action by opening up its own helplines to chip in with assistance.

Chittoor police contacted the local railway station to enquire if any passengers had boarded the accident-stricken train from their jurisdiction.

Similar initiatives were taken up by Krishna and Kakinada districts police departments.