National Desk, 4 June: Top railway official Jaya Verma Sinha said on Sunday that preliminary investigations have found indications of some problems in the signal. The accident took place in the Karmandal Express. She said, the speed of the train at the time of the accident was around 128 kmph. Sinha, a member of the railway board’s management and business development also said she was still awaiting a detailed report from the Commissioner of Railway Safety.
How did the accident occur? Giving information in this regard, Sinha said at a press conference, “The goods train didn’t fall from the railway tracks. Since iron oxide was carried on the goods train, the worst damage was done to the Coromandel Express. This is the reason why a large number of people were killed and many people were injured. “
She added, “After hitting the goods train, the coaches that had left the railway tracks of the Coromandel Express came down line and collided with the last two coaches of the Yashwantpur Express which crossed the down line at a speed of 126 km per hour.”
Jaya Verma Sinha added, “At around 7 pm on Friday, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and Bengaluru-Howrah Express derailed in Balasore district and collided with a goods train. There were around 2500 passengers on both the passenger trains. Hundreds of passengers were stranded in the accident as 21 coaches were derailed and removed and severely damaged. Both the passenger trains were running at high speed and experts cited it as one of the main reasons for the death of a large number of people.”
As many as 90 trains were cancelled after the train accident while 46 trains have been diverted. Most of the trains damaged due to accidents are in south and south-eastern railway zones. Citing reports available till Saturday afternoon, an official said 288 passengers had died in the accident. At the same time, the condition of 56 injured is critical.