"They Destroyed Railways": Lalu Yadav, Ex Rail Minister, After Train Crash

Former Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday called for a high-level inquiry into the train crash in Odisha's Balasore in which at least 261 people were killed in an accident involving three trains.

Alleging negligence, in an apparent reference to the BJP-led Central Government, without naming them, Mr Yadav said, "The manner in which they showed negligence and didn't show alertness led to such a large number of casualties".

"There should be a high-level inquiry and action should be taken against those responsible for it...There was major negligence. They have destroyed Railways," the RJD chief said.

According to Railways, the three-way accident on Friday evening led to 261 deaths. The injured have been taken to the Hospitals of Gopalpur, Khantapara, Balasore, Bhadrak and Soro.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting over the Odisha train accident in the national capital.

The scale of the accident was evident from the visuals of the accident site with some bogeys thrown wide off from the track, crushed or in mangled condition and belongings of passengers strewn around.

According to a preliminary report released on Saturday by the State Emergency Operation Centre of Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner in Bhubaneswar, the accident took place at around 7 am at Bahanaga Bazar Station in Odisha's Balasore district.

Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the rescue operation has been completed and restoration work has started.

"The rescue operation has been completed and restoration work has started. We will thoroughly investigate this incident and will ensure such incidents don't happen in future," he said.

Odisha has declared a day of mourning in the wake of the accident.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)