In what has laid bare the poor rail safety mechanism yet again, several wagons of a goods train carrying aluminium from Damanjodi to Angul got detached near the Kesinga railway station in Odisha’s Kalahandi district on Wednesday.

Close on the heels of the deadly 2 June triple-train accident near Bahanaga railway station in Balasore that claimed as many as 289 lives, at least three rail mishaps have occurred in Odisha accounting for casualties.

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The wagons got separated while the goods train was crossing the station. The loco pilots of a goods train however responded promptly and managed to put brakes on the moving train, thereby averting a mishap, said official sources adding that separated wagons were later attached.

Meanwhile the railway authorities have ordered an inquiry into the incident.

As many as six labourers, engaged in track maintenance work were killed and two more persons critically injured after an engineless goods train ran over them near Jajpur -Keonjhar Road station in Jajpur district on 7 June.

They had taken shelter under the bogie of a stationary goods train stationed at Jajpur Road station to protect themselves from the Nor’wester rain and gusty wind.  The train did not have an engine but it started slowly rolling due to the impact of the strong winds. As a result they were crushed under the wheels of the goods train.

Panic had gripped passengers of Secunderabad-Agartala Express after smoke billowed out of a bogie of the train near Berhampur railway station in Odisha on 6 June. With Balasore train tragedy fresh in their memory, the panicked passengers de-boarded the train at Berhampur railway station. The East Coast Railway (ECoR) officials later said that normalcy was restored after the minor incident occurred due to an electrical issue.

On 5 June, a goods train carrying limestones derailed in Bargarh district. The Railways authorities later claimed that the railway was not connected with the derailment as it occurred on a private narrow gauge rail line between Dungri limestone mines and ACC’s cement plant at Bargarh.