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So Huge Was The Impact Of The Hirakhand Express Derailment, That People Were Decapitated, Body Parts Crushed

Relatives are having trouble identifying the bodies.
Derailed coaches of a Hirakhand express train from Jagdalpur to Bhubaneswar are seen near Kuneri station, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, outside the town of Rayagada, India, in this still image from video January 22, 2017.
Reuters TV / Reuters
Derailed coaches of a Hirakhand express train from Jagdalpur to Bhubaneswar are seen near Kuneri station, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, outside the town of Rayagada, India, in this still image from video January 22, 2017.

So great was the impact of the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express accident, that 10 people were decapitated, and body parts of many were crushed and distorted, according to a report in the Deccan Chronicle.

The death toll in the train derailment in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district rose to 41 as NIA and CID teams visited the scene on Monday to study if there was sabotage, IANS reported. The tragedy occurred on Saturday at 11:30 pm near Kuneru station, 24 km from Rayagada in Odisha. The train was on its way to the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar from Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh.

An officer of the district administration told the Chronicle that they stopped uploading pictures of unidentified bodies in the system because their condition was so gruesome.

The paper quoted a Red Cross volunteer as saying that bodies were crushed beyond recognition and in one case, an eye ball had popped out from one. Legs and other body parts were collected from the site for identification.

Officials said 68 passengers were injured due to the derailment of nine coaches. They were being treated in hospitals in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team visited the accident site on Monday to probe the sabotage angle.

NIA is already probing the alleged role of Pakistan's Inter Services Agency (ISI) behind the Indore-Patna Express derailment near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh that claimed 150 lives. Andhra Pradesh's Crime Investigation Department (CID) also visited the accident site on Monday.

Officials have not ruled out the involvement of Maoists as the Andhra-Odisha border area is considered a Maoist stronghold. (With inputs from IANS)

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