INDIA Rail disaster in Orissa, the diocese of Balasore helps the injured

There are almost 300 confirmed dead but they continue to extract bodies from the rubble. The Catholic hospital and local Caritas mobilized to help the passengers, mostly from other Indian states. The Church’s condolences in the words of Card. Thank you: “We are close to families, it is painful to see so much suffering.” A telegram that expresses the closeness of Pope Francis.

Balasore () – In the middle of the night, the Indian diocese of Balasore is still there to offer help to the victims of what is turning out to be one of the most serious railway tragedies in the world in recent years. The diocese was immediately mobilized when the disaster struck at 7pm yesterday in this northern Orissa city. The Coromandel Express – the train that links Shalimar with Chennai – derailed and was struck by the Bengaluru-Howrah, a high-speed train that was arriving on the opposite track. The confirmed victims are already almost 300 and there are more than 900 injured.

Il card. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, told the pain of the Indian Catholic Church for this tragedy: “I am deeply affected by the loss of so many human lives in this serious rail accident. The death toll is very high, it is painful to see so much suffering. I express my condolences to all those who have lost loved ones or are suffering”. Pope Francis also expressed his closeness with a telegram sent on his behalf by the Secretary of State, Card. Piero Parolin, to the apostolic nuncio in New Delhi, Mons. Leopoldo Girelli: “Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of the Almighty, His Holiness sends his heartfelt condolences to all who mourn their loss and prays for the many injured and for the efforts of the personnel involved in the rescue.”

From the first moments after the accident, the Jyoti hospital in the Diocese of Balasore is providing emergency medical care and surgeries to the injured passengers, and offering food and water to the people accompanying them. Father Peter, director of the establishment, along with the nuns personally went to the accident site to help rescuers in the face of an apocalyptic scenario.

At the same time, the Balasore Social Service Society – the local Church’s Caritas – is also in the front line with its staff and volunteers at these times, especially to closely accompany the injured from other Indian states who were traveling on the trains. “Most of the people – says the director Fr. Roy – come from Jarkhand, West Bengal, Bihar and other places in Orissa. We are offering medical assistance, water and food rations, helping people connect with their families and comforting them in their trauma. We are also providing masks, gloves and other materials to the crews that are still extracting bodies from the rubble at the site of the tragedy.”