Around 35 people await the bodies of their deceased family members at a guest house near AIIMS Bhubaneswar, while 15 others have returned home due to delayed DNA reports.
Tragic Delay in Receiving Bodies
The grieving families of the victims involved in the tragic Coromandel Express train accident in Odisha continue to wait for the bodies of their loved ones, despite the incident occurring nearly a month ago. The accident took place on June 2 near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district, claiming the lives of almost 300 passengers. Distraught individuals like Basanti Devi from Bihar’s Begusarai district have been residing in an isolated guest house near AIIMS Bhubaneswar for the past ten days, hoping to claim the remains of her husband.
Frustration Mounts with Lack of Information
Basanti Devi, whose husband Yogendra Paswan, a contract laborer, perished in the accident while traveling home on the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, expressed her anguish. She shared that while some officials claim it will take five more days, others offer no definitive timeline. The lack of clear communication from the administration further compounds her distress. As the sole breadwinner, her husband’s untimely demise has left her uncertain about the future, with three children left behind and only two sons accompanying her.
Anxiously Awaiting DNA Reports
Narayan Rishidev from Purnia, Bihar, echoes similar sentiments as he awaits the body of his grandson, Suraj Kumar, who was traveling to Chennai in search of employment. Despite providing his DNA sample, Rishidev is still waiting for the report. Another grieving father, Shivkant Roy from Cooch Behar district in West Bengal, fears he may not be able to bid a final farewell to his son, Vipul. He claims that his son’s body was mistakenly handed over to someone else after being kept at KIMS Hospital. The body was allegedly taken to Bihar and cremated by another individual.
Delays and Uncertainty Surround DNA Reports
As of now, around 35 individuals continue to wait at the guest house, while 15 others have left due to the prolonged delay in receiving DNA reports. Railway officials are urging claimants to provide their DNA samples, but they acknowledge that they act merely as intermediaries between AIIMS and the state government. To date, the identities of 81 bodies preserved in three containers at Bhubaneswar AIIMS remain unidentified. A total of 84 families have submitted their DNA samples for identification purposes.
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