On Sunday, PK Jena, the chief secretary of Odisha, said that no effort has been made to conceal the fatalities resulting from the Balasore railway accident and that the whole rescue effort has been carried out in full view of the public.
He responded to claims that the death toll statistic had been skewed by saying that Odisha values openness.
“Media representatives have been on-site at the accident scene almost nonstop. “Cameras are everywhere, and everything is being done,” he claimed.
“The railroads reported 288 fatalities. We also said that, that the statistic was based on data provided by the railroad. However, the death toll has been confirmed by our Balasore district collector, and as of 10 a.m. on Sunday, there were 275 fatalities.
When asked why the toll had changed, Jena said that some dead had been double counted. The chief secretary said that media personnel were also not prohibited from visiting the accident scene.
“The rescue and even restoration activities went on in full public view,” the man said.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, questioned the death toll, claiming that 61 residents of her state were deceased and another 182 were still unaccounted for. She questioned during a news conference, “If from one state, 182 are missing and 61 are confirmed dead, then where would the figures stand?”
Ashiwini Vaishnaw, the minister of railways, refusing to answer any questions from the media on Banerjee’s accusation. Only 108 of the 275 deceased corpses have been identified, according to the chief secretary.
According to him, the state wants all the dead to be identified so that their relatives may cremate them.
“Considering the heat wave, the corpses are disintegrating quickly. Therefore, the state may only hold off on disposing of them in accordance with the law for a maximum of two more days,” he stated.
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