The Minister of Railways of India, Ashwini Vaishnaw, pointed this Sunday (4) to a signaling failure as the cause of the tragedy that left 275 dead last Friday (2).
“The problem is related to the electronic interlock,” Vaishnaw told the Indian news agency “ANI”.
In addition to the 275 dead, the tragedy left almost 900 injured, in what was the worst rail accident of the 21st century in the country.
“The cause of the accident has already been identified and those responsible have also been identified. At the moment our efforts are focused on restoring the railway lines”, added the minister.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, said on Saturday (3) that the culprits will be severely punished.
How was the accident
The accident happened around 19:20 (local time) on Friday (2) in Balasore district, Odisha region.
A passenger train derailed and collided with a second train, according to information from the railway authorities. A third freight train was also involved in the accident.
With the search and rescue work for possible survivors concluded and after removing the bodies from the site, the authorities are still committed to restoring rail traffic at the site of the accident.
“All 21 cars that overturned and derailed have been removed. The area is now being cleared of axles, wheels and other components,” the south east division of Indian Railways said in a statement.
Opposition calls for minister’s resignation
Opponents of the current Indian government, such as those from the historic Congress Party (INC, for its acronym in English), have demanded the resignation of the Minister of Railways and point to a lack of budget for the maintenance of the tracks while the Indian government seeks to modernize the network with medium-sized high-speed trains.
The Indian rail network is the fourth in the world, after the United States, Russia and China. It has a length of 68 thousand kilometers, 21,650 trains and 7,349 stations throughout the country. Around 23 million passengers are transported daily.
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