Odisha Coromandel Express Accident Live: Balasore victims’ bodies get swapped, add to kin’s grief

“After four days of desperate searching in hospitals, we identified the photo of Hansraj, my cousin, who was going to Chennai. When we went to verify with authorities, they said the body had been taken by a family from Bhagalpur,” said Anil Marandi.

Another person from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Manohar Manjhi, was on board the same train, wearing a similar shirt. Both died in the accident. Both died in the accident. When Kisku’s family members identified him from the photo album of the deceased, they came to know that Manjhi’s family had already claimed the body, believing it to be of their son.

Even while dealing with the pain of losing loved ones and the difficulty in identifying their bodies, relatives of many of the Bahanaga train crash victims are facing another issue that has added to their torment: Swapping of bodies.