Balasore: Indian PM Narendra Modi on Saturday reached the site of the railway mishap in Odisha's Balasore district and inspected the ground situation as the death toll due to the tragedy touched 261.

Modi assured that action will be taken against those responsible for the incident.

The twitter handle of the Press Information Bureau said: " PM @narendramodi at the site of #BalasoreTrainAccident where he reviewed the ongoing relief works. He interacted with local authorities, personnel from the disaster relief forces and railways officials."

Modi also visited a hospital to meet the victims of the tragedy.

Rescue workers struggled through wreckage and mangled coaches to recover bodies and look for survivors at the scene of one of the worst rail accidents in India as the toll from Friday night’s train crash in Odisha climbed to 261.

Injured passengers, who were in the derailed Coromandel Express, have been taken to the hospitals of Gopalpur, Khantapara, Balasore, Bhadrak and Soro.

The rescue operation has completed at the derailment site and restoration work has begun, said the Railway Ministry.

More than 900 people have been injured in the mishap where three trains collided one after the other, causing one of the worst railway accidents in the country.

Modi, earlier in the day, participated in a high-level meeting over the incident.

Several Trains Cancelled:

Railways on Saturday cancelled 12 trains and diverted four trains following the accident at Bahanaga Railway station in Balasore on Friday.

The 18037 Kharagpur - Jajpur Keonjhar Express from Kharagpur , 22877 Howrah - Ernakulam Express from Howrah , 12841 Shalimar - Chennai Coromandal Express from Shalimar , 18043 Howrah - Bhadrak Express from Howrah , 18409 Shalimar - Puri Shri Jagannath Express from Shalimar 18046 Hyderabad-Shalimar East Coast Express from Hyderabad , 12840 Chennai-

Howrah Superfast Mail from Chennai , 22202 Puri - Sealdah Duronto Express from Puri,

18410 Puri –Shalimar Sri Jagannath Express from Puri on have been cancelled for June 3.

The 18038 Jajpur Keonjhar Road-Kharagpur Express from Jajpur Keonjhar Road, 18044 Bhadrak – Howrah Express from Bhadrak, 08440 Patna-Puri Special Express from Patna have been cancelled for June 4.

Railway also diverted four trains in view of the accidents.

The -22503 Kanyakumari - Dibrubarh Vivek Express from Kanyakumari on June 3 to be run via Vizianagaram – Titlagarh – Jharsuguda.

The 18477 Puri-Rishikesh Kalinga Utkal Express from Puri on 03.06.2023 to be run via Sambalpur city – Jharsuguda – Ib, the 12801 Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express from Puri on June 3 to be run via Jakhapura and Jaroli and the 15643 Puri-Kamakhya Express from Puri on June 3 to be run via Cuttack – Sambalpur City – Jharsuguda.

Meanwhile, due to the cancellation of trains some unscrupulous private bus owners were charging around three times more than the normal fare from the passengers at Puri.

After news spread, the Chief Secretary directed the officials to take strong action against the accused bus owners and to facilitate their travel to their destination.

The stranded passengers were given food and assured of all help, sources told UNI.