Hirakhand Express tragedy: East Coast Railway confirms rise in death toll to 40

The toll in the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailment rose to 40 with the recovery of another body from the accident site on Wednesday.

“The 40^th death is now officially confirmed after post mortem,” an East Coast Railway statement said adding the body was recovered from the accident site at Kuneru in Andhra Pradesh.

The body had in fact got buried in the ground and was spotted when the site was being cleared.

The Railways confirmed the death only after the post-mortem report was made available, it said.

The Visakhapatnam Divisional Railway Manager’s office also issued a statement saying that a body was recovered from the site of accident on Wednesday, taking the toll to 40.

Nine coaches of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailed near Kuneru station in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Railway Safety held the statutory inquiry into the mishap for the second consecutive day today. Ram Kripal, Commissioner of Railway Safety, South Central Circle, Secunderabad, under the Ministry of Civil Aviation is holding the inquiry.