JE News Desk: India is no stranger to railway accidents and has seen several disasters, on Friday, it saw a massive 3-train clash which can be termed one of the deadliest in recent decades. At least 238 people lost their lives and over 900 got injured after the Coromandel Express got derailed. In the magnitude of the lives lost, this Coromandel Express accident is as deadly as Gaisal (1999), and Jnaneswari (2010) -- both in West Bengal.

On Friday, Coromandel Express on its way to Chennai derailed near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Odisha's Balasore and collided with Bengaluru-Howrah Express coming from the opposite direction on a parallel track. Some Coromandel Express coaches derailed and hit the stationary goods train on the third track.

The Coromandel Express which runs between Chennai and Shalimar covering a distance of 1,662 met with an accident in 2009 too and coincidently, the accident which happened that year took place in Odisha only and that too on Friday. Of the 13 bogies that derailed, 11 were sleeper class and two general. The day was then termed ‘black’ Friday.

On Friday night of February 2009, Coromandel expresses met with an accident which killed at least 16 passengers. The accident took place when the train was passing the Jajpur Road railway station at a very high speed and was changing tracks. The engine of the train went onto one track and capsized while the bogies scattered in all directions. The 2009 accident too took place in the evening -- between 7.30 pm to 7.40 pm.

Meanwhile, today the rescue operation on the accident spot in Odisha continued and Indian Army has been deployed to carry out the evacuation. "Indian Army has been deployed to assist in the evacuation and treatment of injured citizens. Army medical and engineering teams with ambulances and support services have been deployed from the Eastern Command. The teams have been routed from multiple bases so as to reach the place of the incident as early as possible," said Indian Army officials.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a high-level meeting with railway officials to take stock of the situation after at least 238 people were killed. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik arrived at the Balasore District Hospital and met the people who were injured in the train accident. He also took stock of the situation on the accident site and ordered a high-level probe.

Here is a full list of helpline numbers issued by Odisha and West Bengal govts:

Bhadrak: 8455889900
Jajpur Keonihar Road: 8455889906
Cuttack: 8455889917
Bhubaneswar: 8455889922
Khurda Road: 6370108046
Brahmapur: 89173887241
Balugaon: 9937732169
Palasa: 8978881006
Howrah Helpline Number: 033-26382217
Kharagpur Helpline Number: 8972073925 & 9332392339
Balasore Helpline Number: 8249591559 & 7978418322
Shalimar Helpline Number: 9903370746