Train Collision in Balasore: Pitfalls in Disaster Victim Identification

Abstract

Disasters are quite unpredictable and inevitable events. It can be natural or man-made in nature or sometimes even
accidental. On June 2 2023, three trains collided in a remote area of Balasore, Odisha. This event accounted for the death of
over 288 passengers on record, and over 1000 injured. It called for one of the worst train disasters in the face of India. The
reasons for the accident are being investigated from various angles whether it was sabotage or due to any technical glitch.
The accident itself was beyond tragic but the worst was yet to follow. Numerous dead bodies were initially piled up on the
railway tracks and later shifted to a makeshift mortuary in a nearby school. Most dead bodies in this case would either be
mutilated or crushed, either way, visual identification would be a challenging task. In any case of disaster,