Odisha train accident: Demolition of school building where bodies were kept begins

Balasore: The demolition work of building of Bahanaga Bazar High School in Odisha’s Balasore district, where the bodies of the train accident victims were kept, started this morning.

The process was being carried out in the presence of school managing committee members and Works Department authorities. It has been decided that new classrooms will be constructed after the demolition.

Balasore Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde had yesterday visited the educational institution and said that the school managing committee will decide whether the particular building will be demolished or not as fear of ‘presence of ghosts’ in the building has gripped students, their parents, teachers and locals.

The 65-year-old educational institution is located a few hundred metres away from the Bahanaga Bazar Station. On the fateful day, the bodies were kept at the school building temporarily after being recovered from the accident site. Some classrooms and a hall of the school were used to place the bodies.

The students of the school became reluctant to attend classes after summer vacation as the building had turned into a mortuary-like place, few days ago.

Though Fire Services personnel had cleaned and sanitized the blood-stained rooms, parents of the students were not willing to allow their children to go to the school. The locals alleged that the rooms still have bloodstains at some places.

Before commencement of classes after conclusion of the ongoing summer vacation, awareness programmes will be conducted for the students to eradicate their fear regarding the building. The classes will start after a puja at the school, said a member of the managing committee.

The school was recently renovated under the 5T initiative.

The train accident involving Coromandel Express, SMVP-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train at Bahanaga on June 2 has claimed at least 288 lives.