Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on June 4 that the fatal train accident in Balasore district, Odisha state, was caused by a change in the electronic interlocking system, according to ANI news agency. This is a complex signaling system that guides trains onto empty tracks where two tracks meet.
Workers move train cars off the tracks on June 4.
"We have determined the cause of the accident and who is responsible," Mr. Vaishnaw said, but said it could not be announced at this time because it was waiting for the final investigation report.
Earlier, a preliminary investigation revealed that the Coromandel Express passenger train running from Chennai to Kolkata had entered a side track, which is normally used as a train stop, at a speed of 128 km/h and hit a goods train parked there. The goods train was carrying iron ore and did not derail after being hit.
However, the collision caused the locomotive and four out of five coaches of the Coromandel Express to veer off the tracks, overturn and hit the last two coaches of the Yashwantpur Express passenger train running in the opposite direction at 126 km/h on the main track No. 2, Reuters quoted Railway Board Commissioner Jaya Varma Sinha as saying.
The drivers of both passenger trains were injured but survived. Ms Sinha said the locking system may have been faulty and the Coromandel Express should not have entered the side track.
Damaged train cars at the scene of the accident
Ms Sinha said she spoke to the Coromandel Express driver who insisted he had been keeping the speed limit and had not missed any signals.
The official said there were several possibilities for the accident, including someone digging through the electrical system's cabling and causing an impact or short circuit.
The Times of India quoted a senior railway official as saying that the driver of the Coromandel Express could not have been involved as he had been given a green light to proceed and was not speeding. The unnamed official did not rule out the possibility of tampering, "sabotage from within or without".
Nearly 300 dead, hundreds of ambulances at scene of Indian train crash
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the scene and met the rescue team and injured people on June 3, declared that those responsible would be severely punished.
Odisha state officials announced on June 4 that the rescue operation at the scene had been completed and revised the death toll from 288 to at least 275 because some bodies were counted twice.
In an update on the situation on the evening of June 4, the state government said nearly 1,200 people were injured, of whom more than 900 had been discharged from hospital while 260 were still being treated, one in critical condition.
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