Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Officials have stated that at least 29 fatalities of the June train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district’s Bahanaga Bazar station, which claimed the lives of 294 passengers, have not yet been identified. Only two or three samples are anticipated to match in the final batch of DNA findings, according to the superintendent of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar.
The Coromandel Express, headed for Chennai, the SMVP-Howrah Superfast Express, and a cargo train were all engaged in the deadliest railway catastrophe in recent memory on June 2 in Balasore district, roughly 200 kilometers from the capital Bhubaneswar. At least 294 people killed and over 800 were wounded. Most of the victims were recognized using their Aadhaar cards following the disaster.
But in case of victims who had no identity proofs on them or when there’s more than one claimant for a body, the hospital sent DNA samples to identify the deceased. The hospital ordered container-sized freezers from Paradip port to keep the bodies in sub-zero temperature to prevent further decomposition.
The person’s identification can be ascertained if the samples match by more than 50 %. AIIMS officials said the success of DNA sampling depended on how soon the samples were taken after death and whether they were taken from the deceased’s molar teeth. In some cases, doctors had to store canine or incisor teeth due to unavailability of molar teeth; bones were also collected and sent for DNA sampling.
