Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that Odisha train accident occurred due to change in electronic interlocking. The Commissioner for Railway Safety investigated the matter and we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it, he said. He added that they are working on restoring the railways lines and shall meet target of making affected lines fully operational by June 7.
Earlier, Ministry of Railways, in a tweet, said that
restoration work is ongoing at Warfooting at train accident site in Balasore, Odisha with 1000+ manpower working tirelessly.
"At present, more than 7 poclain machines, 2 accident relief trains, 3-4 railway and road cranes have been deployed for early restoration," it said.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended the members of rescue teams for their work after the three-train crash in Odisha and also praised people's courage and compassion. In his tweets, he also expressed gratitude to world leaders for their condolence messages.
Praising the members of rescue teams and other authorities, he said, "I commend each and every person belonging to the teams of railways, NDRF, ODRAF, local authorities, police, fire service, volunteers and others who are working tirelessly on the ground and strengthening the rescue ops. Proud of their dedication."
He added, "The courage and compassion shown by the people of our nation in the face of adversity is truly inspiring. As soon as the train mishap took place in Odisha, people immersed themselves in assisting rescue ops. Several people lined up to donate blood."
Prime Minister Modi visited the accident site in Odisha's Balasore district and was briefed by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as well as officers of the disaster management teams. He also met some of the injured in the hospital.
The i
ncident took place at around 7 PM on Friday when 10-12 coaches of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed, causing them fall onto the opposite track. The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast express collided with the derailed coaches, leading to the derailment of 3-4 of its own coaches.
