Railways fact-checks Congress leader's claim on cancellations after Odisha train crash
The IRCTC, responded to the claims on Twitter, stating the claim is “factually incorrect."
IRCTC, the ticketing division of Indian Railways, has refuted the claims made by Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das regarding a surge in the number of ticket cancellations after the tragic three-train collision in Odisha's Balasore district on Friday night, which claimed 278 lives and left over 1,000 others wounded. Das, at a press conference, had alleged that “thousands of people” had cancelled their train tickets in the wake of the Balasore incident.
The Congress shared a clip of the press conference on its Twitter handle, stressing the collective pain caused by the unfortunate event.
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"Such a train accident has never happened in the past. Hundreds of people lost their lives and more than a thousand people were injured. This incident has hurt everyone. Thousands of people have cancelled their tickets after the accident. They feel that travelling in the train is not safe," the Congress tweet said.
The IRCTC, however, responded to the claims on Twitter, stating the claim is “factually incorrect”. It also presented the data on ticket booking and cancellation after the deadly crash on Friday, June 2.
"Cancellations have not increased. On the contrary, cancellations have reduced from 7.7 Lakh on 01.06.23 to 7.5 Lakh on 03.06.23," the IRCTC said.
Odisha train accident: What we know so far
As many as 278 people have been killed and over 1,000 were injured in the horrific three-train collision. The crash involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train.
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More than 51 hours after the triple train collision, passenger trains resumed operations on the repaired tracks, after restoration works were undertaken on a war footing, on Monday.
101 bodies are yet to be identified, and 55 were handed over to relatives, news agency ANI reported.
