Anger grows as 100 bodies from Odisha train crash remain unclaimed: ‘No one is taking responsibility’

Families are growing more and more desperate as the search for their loved ones goes on, as questions mount over whether Friday’s disaster could have been prevented. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports from Odisha

Rescue workers inspect an overturned carriage after the worst train disaster in India this century (AFP/Getty)

It has been more than three days since India witnessed one of the deadliest train crashes in the country’s history, but anguished and increasingly frustrated families are still running between hospitals and makeshift mortuaries in Odisha to try and find their loved ones.

Authorities began a formal investigation on Monday and said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s equivalent of the FBI, will look into whether criminal charges should be brought over the three-train crash that killed at least 275 passengers, though there is mounting concern in Odisha that the actual death toll may prove to be considerably higher.

It’s a reflection of growing distrust in the official response to Friday night’s disaster, with upwards of 100 bodies still unidentified and unclaimed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in Odisha’s capital city Bhubaneswar.