Derailed coaches of the trains lie on the ground at the end of the rescue and search operation after an accident involving three trains, near Bahanga Bazar railway station. In a tweet, the Ministry of Railways said that the officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site

Debris is removed from railway tracks at the end of rescue and search operation "Restoration work is ongoing at Warfooting at the train accident site in Balasore, Odisha with 1000+ Manpower working tirelessly. At present, more than 7 Poclain Machines, 2 Accident Relief Trains, and 3-4 Railway and Road Cranes have been deployed for early restoration. Officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site," read the post on the official Twitter handle of the Railways ministry

Chief Public Relations Officer of South Eastern Railway Aditya Kumar Chowdhary said that traffic on the damaged tracks will be restored soon. "The whole team is engaged. We are all busy at work. We are trying to restore traffic as soon as possible," Chowdhary said

The preliminary report on the tragedy said the three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and goods train on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in Balasore district. As many as 17 coaches of these two passenger trains were derailed and severely damaged in the accident on Friday evening

Earlier, on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the accident spot, accompanied by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. "It's a painful incident. We might not bring back the lives lost but we are with the families of the victims at this hour of grief. The government has taken very serious note of the incident and will leave no stone unturned in treating the injured passengers. An investigation has been ordered and those found guilty will not be spared," PM Modi said