Odisha Rail Accident: Toll increases to 290

Cuttack: The toll in Bahanaga Bazar train disaster rose to 290 after a 17-year-old resident of Bihar succumbed to his injuries in SCB Medical College and Hospital here on Friday, officials said.

Prakash Ram, who was travelling in the ill-fated Shalimar-Chennai Coromondel Express on June 2 when it met with the accident, was undergoing treatment at the surgery ward of the state-run hospital, he said.

He had sustained severe head and leg injuries, besides internal injuries and was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition.

A portion of his left leg was amputated below the knee but his condition deteriorated during the past few days, the hospital authority said.

It informed the local police about the death and the body will be handed over to Prakash's family after post-mortem.

Hospital superintendent Sudhanshu Sekhar Mishra told PTI that the doctors had carried out a second amputation above the left knee three days ago as the patient had suffered from infection after blood transfusion.

"The patient was okay till Thursday night, he was talking and taking his food. But he died suddenly on Friday morning.

"He had suffered multiple injuries involving multiple systems and multiple organs. We can’t tell the exact reason now ; we are investigating the details," it said.

Prakash is the second accident victim to have died in the hospital from Tuesday. Bijay Paswan, also from Bihar, had succumbed to his injuries on that day at the SCB Medical College and Hospital.

Meanwhile, the identities of bodies of 81 victims preserved at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, are yet to be ascertained. The claimants are waiting for DNA test reports. A total of 78 families have given DNA samples.

The Chennai-bound Coromandel Express, Howrah-bound SMVP Superfast Express from Bengaluru and a goods train were involved in one of the country's worst rail accidents near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha's Balasore district on June 2.