Balasore, June 4 (BNA) As rescue work concludes, authorities have begun clearing the wreckage of two passenger trains that derailed in eastern India, killing more than 300 people and injuring hundreds in one of the country’s deadliest rail accidents since contracts. Sunday.
Investigators are looking into the possible causes of the crash Friday night in Balasore district of the eastern state of Odisha, including whether human error or signal failure played a role.
Fifteen bodies were recovered Saturday night, and efforts continued through the night as heavy cranes were used to remove an engine that had lodged on top of a train carriage. Sudhanshu Sarangi, Director General of Odisha Fire and Emergency Services, said no bodies were found in the engine and the work ended on Sunday morning.
The accident occurred despite the government’s efforts to improve railway safety. Several hundred accidents occur each year on Indian Railways, the largest single-management train network in the world.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the Coromandel Express had been signaled to enter the main track line but the signal was later cancelled. The Press Trust of India news agency reported that the train entered another line, known as the loop line, and collided with a goods train that was parked there.
Asked about the cause of the accident and preliminary findings, Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Let the investigation report come out. It would not be appropriate to comment.”
Chaotic scenes unfolded on Friday night as rescuers climbed over wrecked trains to break open doors and windows, using torches in an effort to rescue people trapped inside railway cars.
Modi visited the crash site on Saturday to check on relief efforts and speak with rescue officials. He also visited a hospital, where he asked doctors about the treatments offered to the injured, and spoke to some of them.
Modi told reporters that he felt the pain of those who had suffered from the accident. He said the government would do everything possible to help them and severely punish anyone found responsible.
10 to 12 train cars were derailed, and debris from some of the mangled coaches fell onto a nearby track. Amitabh Sharma, a spokesman for the Ministry of Railways, said the wreckage was hit by another passenger train coming from the opposite direction, causing as many as three buses of the second train to derail.
In 1995, two trains collided near New Delhi, killing 358 people in one of the worst train accidents in India. In 2016, a passenger train derailed between the cities of Indore and Patna, killing 146 people.
Most train accidents in India are blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.
More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains across India each day, traveling on 64,000 km (40,000 mi) of track.
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