Earlier today, Team S8UL’s content creators got together to raise money to help the victims and survivors of the harrowing train crash that took place on June 2 near Balasore, a city in Odisha, an eastern state in India. During the almost four-hour-long live broadcast on sc0utOP’s YouTube channel, various streamers, including 8bit thug, MortaL, 8bit MAMBA, Snax Gaming, and 8bit Regaltos, came together to speak about the incident and discuss other happenings in the esports world.
The devastating crash involving three trains in Odisha has killed 275 people and left more than 1K injured, many of them seriously. Preliminary probes suggest that the cause of the crash was due to human error, making it the third deadliest accident in terms of casualty in Indian railways history.
On June 5, the commissioner of railway safety, South Eastern Circle, Shailesh Pathak, visited the signal and control rooms at the Bahanaga Bazar station, the site of the accident. He interrogated the assistant station manager, in charge of the station during the mishap, apart from Gunanidhi Mohanty, the locomotive pilot, and the assistant locomotive pilot of the Coromandel Express — Hazari Behera — which was involved in the accident.
Around 21 coaches got derailed and severely damaged during the incident, with hundreds of passengers trapped under the debris. This has meant the CBI will take charge of the probe into the accident, with cases also registered under different IPC sections by the Balasore government railway police.
The news also came as a shock to the international community, with outlets like BBC providing continuous coverage of the developments, while world leaders from Russia, China, Britain, and France, among others, expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden also commented on the disaster, saying they were heartbroken by the tragic news.
At the end of it all, the group of gaming creators raised more than $1.5M for charity purposes, with 8bit thug even urging viewers to donate to various other funds once the stream gets over. This exercise once again showed how the gaming world can come together to influence real-world happenings positively, especially for an accident considered ‘India's worst this century.’
Odisha charity stream’s viewership stats
The charity stream recorded 34K Peak Viewers, 87K Hours Watched, and 22K Average Viewers. It peaked towards the beginning when famous stars like sc0utOP and MortaL made their first appearances.
Both these internet stars are in the top 100 Indian channels, while MortaL is in the top 100 overall male handles on the platform. They command huge fanbases in the country and have risen to the top of the content creation industry as a result, all the while becoming successful esports athletes.
