Train mishap: PM Modi convenes review meeting; BJP cancels govt's anniversary celebrations

Balasore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a meeting to review the situation in relation to the Odisha train accident, government sources said on Saturday. The accident involving three trains in Odisha's Balasore district has left at least 288 people dead so far.

PM Narendra Modi will reach the site of the accident in Balasore on Saturday and visit the injured at hospital in Cuttack, said sources.

Officials in Bhubaneswar said 200 ambulances, 50 buses and 45 mobile health units, besides 1,200 personnel, are working at the accident site.

The BJP has adjourned all its programmes, scheduled for Saturday, related to the Modi government's ninth anniversary in the wake of the tragic train accident in Balasore which has left 233 people dead so far.

Party president J P Nadda posted a tweet to this effect and expressed his pain at the devastating accident.

It is extremely painful and heartrending, he said, conveying condolences to the families of the victims.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has planned to organise a host of programmes across the country between May 30 and June 30 as the government completes nine years in office.

(with PTI inputs)