Army divers on Sunday called off the search for survivors and the dead after retrieving 111 bodies from the submerged bogies of Secunderabad-bound Delta Fast passenger train, which fell into a swollen rivulet.
Amidst continued drizzle, rescue teams, using special heavy duty cranes, fished out eight more bodies on Sunday, taking the toll to 111. Railway officials fear 20 bodies still trapped in the coaches might have been swept away by the swirling water and virtually discount any possiblity of tracing them.
Rescuers also pulled out four of the seven bogies that had plunged into the rivulet, causing the worst train disaster in the history of Andhra Pradesh but three compartments, parts of which are under water, are yet to be retrieved.
Troops, dropped from an Indian Air Force helicopter into the water, used gas-cutters to slice open the roof of the compartments to rescue passengers who spent the night clinging on to ceiling fans and luggage racks. Naval divers were pressed into service to reach for dead bodies downstream in the rivulet.
Nalgonda District Collector Vijay Anand said at the accident site that a special crane was engaged to lift the mangled bogies which are partly under water.
Meanwhile, a special train carrying 43 bodies reached Guntur station and the bodies will be handed over to their relatives. A South Central Raiway spokesman said in Hyderabad that 38 bodies have been identified, while 42 bodies at Nalgonda district hospital were yet to be identified.
The 92 injured were being treated in various hospitals in Hyderabad and in Nalgonda district, the spokesman said, adding the railway hospital in Secunderabad, where 33 injured persons were admitted, discharged nine of them this morning. A SCR release said 32 bodies have been handed over to the family members of the deceased.
Similarly, of the 41 bodies at Government Hospital, Guntur, 21 bodies have been handed over to the relatives of the deceased. Exgratia payment of Rs 1 lakh was also paid to family members of each of the deceased by deputing railway officials to their native places.
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