All the bodies of the victims have been removed from the scene of the accident. Debris from three trains has been piled up at the scene near the city of Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha.
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| The scene of a train accident in Odisha state, India, June 3. (Source: THX) |
Mr. KS Anand, Director of Communications of South Eastern Railway, said: "The Coromandel Express (Shalimar - Chennai route) on the evening of June 2 was supposed to enter the main track.
However, the signal was turned on to guide the train onto the spur track, causing it to crash straight into the freight train parked there."
After colliding with the freight train, several carriages of the Coromandel train overturned and blocked two adjacent tracks, derailing the Howrah Express (Bengaluru-Howrah route) as it approached at a speed of 116 km/h.
New developments have emerged suggesting that the Coromandel was the first ship to trigger the chain of events, as opposed to the Howrah, which was initially believed to have been the vessel.
According to the Indian Express , railway officials gave the green light for the Coromandel to enter the main track. However, the signal was turned off for unknown reasons.
The Indian Railway Safety Board has not yet completed its investigation into whether the signal was faulty, whether there was negligence on the part of the signal operator or the train driver.
| India has the world's fourth-largest rail network, with a total length of more than 126,000km. However, the system is plagued by poor maintenance and deteriorating infrastructure. In 2021, India recorded nearly 18,000 train accidents, killing more than 16,400 people. |
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