A train accident in Odisha caused the death of 275 people and over 900 injuries. The AP State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has said that they don’t have any information about the Andhra passengers who were traveling in the unreserved seats of the crashed trains. Among the reserved seat passengers, 44 people from Andhra Pradesh remain untraced.
The accident occurred on June 2 when the Coromandel Express collided with a goods train, causing 10-12 coaches to derail and fall on an adjacent track. Later, another train, heading to Howrah from Bengaluru, crashed into the derailed coaches, causing three of its own coaches to skid off the track.
The APSDMA has obtained the details of the missing persons from the district administration of Visakhapatnam and the Divisional Railway Manager of Vijayawada. Out of the 44 missing individuals, eight are not responding to phone calls, four have disconnected phone numbers, and 31 have unavailable phone numbers. One person provided an incorrect phone number, making it difficult to determine their identity.
The APSDMA has received distress calls from the family members of two Andhra Pradesh residents, Syed Abdul Basha from Kadapa and Ambati Ramulu from Khammam. Basha was found safe at his home in Hyderabad, but officials are still searching for Ramulu, who worked as a watchman at Chaitanya apartments in Vijayawada. It is unclear whether Ramulu boarded any of the trains involved in the incident. The APSDMA has obtained Ramulu’s photograph and is actively searching for him.