Oxfam India – a non-governmental organization (NGO) – on Sunday said that they will be providing psychosocial care and counseling to all the affected victims of the tragic Odisha train accident which left over 270 passengers dead and over 1,000 injured. In a statement, the organisation said that they are “responding with water, food, non-food items, psychosocial counseling, and support to the injured and family members.”
The NGO has also deployed its humanitarian teams from Odisha and West Bengal to plan and initiate “context-specific humanitarian interventions” – which include the provision of ‘ready to eat’ food, provision of safe drinking water, and sanitation facilities. They are also providing temporary toilets around the area of the accident as well as in hospitals that provide healthcare facilities to injured and affected people, the statement said.
Oxfam India’s interim CEO Pankaj Anand said, “This is unfortunately a huge humanitarian disaster. Oxfam India is responding by providing essential services like food and water, and setting up blood donation camps. Our humanitarian teams in Balasore will be keeping the focus on the survivors and the loved ones of those who are undergoing a massively agonising experience.”
At least 275 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a horrific three-train collision in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday evening. The accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express, the Coromandel Express, and goods train on three separate tracks at Bahanagar.
According to initial reports, a “mistaken” signal likely led to the Coromandel Express entering a side track on which the goods train was parked. Reportedly, the line on which the two trains collided was “partially corroded”.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who took stock of the situation at the site, said that the accident happened due to “electronic interlocking.” He said that a report of the root cause will be submitted soon.
