At least 288 people were killed and hundreds more injured when two express passenger trains and one for freight collided in India’s eastern Odisha state on Friday in one of the country's worst rail accidents.
A dozen coaches of the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai, derailed after it collided with the Howrah Superfast Express, running from Bengaluru to Howrah, West Bengal.
The accident happened near Bahanaga railway station in Odisha's Balasore district at about 7 pm local time, Indian Railways said. The freight train was on an adjoining track.
Pradeep Kumar Jena, Odisha’s chief secretary, confirmed the number of deaths and told The National that about 900 passengers were "injured to varying degrees”.
The state's fire chief said the death toll could rise past 300.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the scene on Saturday evening and spent nearly 40 minutes with rescue and emergency workers before visiting survivors at the Balasore district hospital.
He said the incident was "extremely painful and disturbing" and promised a thorough investigation and full support for the families of the victims.
"For those injured, the government is leaving no stone unturned for their treatment," Mr Modi said on television.
"For those whom we have lost, we can’t get them back but the government is with their families and sharing their pain.
"This incident is serious for the government and all investigations have been launched. Whoever will be found at fault will get strict punishment.
"I have no words to express the pain. God help us to sail through this painful hour. We will learn from this incident and improve the system for people's safety."
Odisha state declared a day of state mourning on Saturday.
The Coromandel Express was packed with passengers, said passenger Zamin, a resident of Kolkata’s Bardhaman area who was travelling to Chennai with eight friends.
"There were a lot of people on the train. Those with reservations, wait-listed and confirmed tickets, everyone. The train was jam-packed,” he told The National.
I can’t count how many decapitated bodies I saw and how many people without limbs. I passed out
Zamin,
train passenger
“I can’t count how many decapitated bodies I saw and how many people without limbs were there. I passed out and came out of the mangled train after an hour.”
He said two of his friends were seriously injured.
Sudhanshu Sarangi, director general of Odisha Fire Services, said earlier that the death toll stood at 288 but could approach 380.
"Many people who have been rushed to hospitals are succumbing there and we are still taking out the dead bodies," he told AFP from the crash site.
Pradeep Kumar Jena, Odisha’s chief secretary, told The National that about 900 passengers were "injured to varying degrees”.
He said the injured were being treated at hospitals in at least five districts.
The Ministry of Railways said it has initiated an investigation into the incident.
“Preliminary reports have revealed that several compartments went off the rails,” said Aditya Kumar Chowdhury, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway.
The Indian Railways network transports more than 12 million people every day. It has had a patchy safety record because of ageing infrastructure.
More than 40 trains were cancelled and at least 30 diverted following the accident.
Television footage showed rescue workers attempting to pull survivors out of upturned and mangled train carriages.
Bodies of the victims were being identified and released to relatives, Mr Jena said.
“All efforts are made to complete the autopsy and whichever bodies are identified will be handed over to kin or transported to respective destinations,” he said.
About 100 ambulances were sent to the scene. Buses were also used to take the injured to hospitals. Residents began donating blood for the injured early on Saturday.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed expressed his sincere condolences and solidarity with India in a tweet.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukraine's President Voldymyr Zelenskyy also offered their condolences in messages posted on Twitter.
"The images and reports of the train crash in Odisha, India break my heart," Mr Trudeau said.
Mr Modi said earlier that he had spoken to Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and “all possible assistance” was being offered.
Mr Vaishnaw reached the site on Saturday morning and said an inquiry had been set up “to understand the root cause of the accident”.
"It's a big, tragic accident," he told reporters after inspecting the scene. "Our complete focus is on the rescue and relief operation, and we are trying to ensure that those injured get the best possible treatment."
He also announced compensation of one million rupees ($12,000) to the families of the dead, 200,000 rupees for those seriously hurt and 50,000 rupees for those with minor injuries.
India has the world's second-largest railway network. Millions of people travel on trains for daily commutes and longer journeys.
In recent years, safety standards have improved and the number of accidents has fallen. The government says it plans to invest nearly $130 billion to modernise the decades-old network.
At least nine people were killed and dozens injured after multiple coaches derailed in West Bengal state in January last year.
In 2016 at least 150 people died and more than 150 were injured after several coaches derailed in the northern city of Kanpur.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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