Dalai Lama expresses sadness over Indian rail tragedy

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has written to the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha in Eastern India expressing his sadness at the tragic loss of life resulting from the horrific train collision there is produced on Friday.

At least 275 people lost their lives and more than a thousand people were injured in Balasore district of Odisha on June 2 in a three-track train collision that has been described as "the worst of this century in India ". (BBC News)

In his letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday, the Dalai Lama expressed his sympathy for the relatives of the victims: "I offer my condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones," His Holiness wrote, "and I pray for all those who have been injured and others affected by this tragedy. (His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet)

The Dalai Lama's letter to Patnaik continued:

I greatly appreciate that the state government and other agencies, including those of the central government, are doing everything possible to provide medical treatment and support to the injured and others affected by this tragic accident. . . .

As you know, I had the opportunity to visit Odisha several times and also had the honor to meet you, as we did in 2017.

(His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet)

His Holiness also promised that the Dalai Lama Trust, established in 2003 to support activities for the advancement and welfare of people in general and Tibetans in particular, would make a donation to help fund the medical treatment of victims and to support relief and rescue. activities.

On the evening of June 2, passenger cars of the Coromandel Express train and the SMVT-Howrah Super Fast Express train derailed after the Coromandel Express was diverted onto a track occupied by a stationary freight train. As the Coromandel Express cars were thrown off the line, they collided with the SMVT-Howrah Super Fast Express as it passed in the opposite direction.

According to media reports, investigations are ongoing into the cause of the tragedy, which is India's deadliest such incident since 1995, when two trains collided near Delhi, killing 358 people.

Media reported that in the hours and days following the collision, many distraught relatives struggled to determine if loved ones were among the dead or injured, with bodies and survivors still being recovered from the wreckage. twisted 36 hours after the disaster.

The BBC News website reported that a woman, Lilavati Devi, traveled 30 hours to reach Balasore to pick up her 22-year-old son, searching hospitals and morgues in the area. Her son, Raja Sahani, was traveling with relatives to the city of Bangalore to work as a day laborer from their hometown in the northeast state of Bihar.

Eight other members of his family who were on one of the trains have been located, according to the report.

“I pray we find him somewhere, somehow,” Devi said. “There is nothing more that I want. May God keep my son safe. (BBC News)