Mamata Banerjee to visit Odisha train accident spot

Kolkata: 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, Leader of the Ppposition 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.

(IANS)