At the scene of India’s deadliest railway accident in decades, which officials claimed was caused by problems related to signal systems, passenger and freight trains were once again operating on Monday.
Nearly 300 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the catastrophe that occurred near Balasore on Friday night in the eastern state of Odisha. Trains rattled by the wreckage of the busted carriages.
The death toll was first recorded as 288, but when some bodies were accidentally counted twice, the Odisha state administration amended the figure down to 275.
Passenger and freight trains were once again running at the scene of India’s biggest railway catastrophe in decades, which officials asserted was brought on by issues with the signal systems.
The disaster that occurred near Balasore on Friday night in the eastern state of Odisha claimed the lives of close to 300 people and injured hundreds more. The broken carriages’ debris shook the trains.
The death toll was first reported as 288, but the Odisha state administration revised the number down to 275 when some bodies were mistakenly counted twice.
The first train, a freight train carrying coal, began 51 hours after the collision, according to the railroads ministry.
Since trains only used one side of the tracks on Monday, it was unclear if all of the tracks had been completely fixed.
Although the precise sequence of events on Friday was unclear, sources cited railway officials who claimed that a signaling fault had diverted the Coromandal Express, which was traveling from Kolkata to Chennai in the south, onto a side track.
It collided with a freight train, derailing an express traveling north from Bengaluru, India’s tech hub, to Kolkata.
Vaishnaw said on Sunday that the accident was caused by a “change that occurred during electronic interlocking,” using a technical word for a sophisticated signal system intended to prevent railway collisions by controlling how the trains move along the rails.
“Whoever did it, and how it happened, will be found out after proper investigation,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and injured passengers in hospital on Saturday and said “no one responsible” would be spared.
