BALASORE: Shocked by the tragedy in Odisha, where at least 288 people died in a three-train smash in India’s worst accident in three decades, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed: “No one would be spared and strong action would be taken against those found guilty.”
“Instructions have been given to ensure proper and speedy investigation of the tragedy,” Modi said after visiting the accident spot in Odisha’s Balasore district. “I do not have words to express my pain.”
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as well as railway and disaster management officials briefed Modi at the accident site. He also met some of the injured in the hospital.
Investigators began looking into human error, signal failure or other causes behind the crash in Odisha's Balasore district.
A joint inspection by senior officials, a designated inquiry body, hinted at signal error as the reason behind the devastating crash, according to PTI.
The team said it had come to the conclusion that "a signal was given and taken off for the up mainline for (train number) 12841, but the train entered the up loopline and dashed with the goods train, which was on the loop line, and derailed. In the meantime, (train number) 12846 passed through the down mainline and two coaches of it were derailed and capsized (sic)."
Signal error, according to experts, occurred on two counts — technical snag and human manipulation. In case of technical snag, the train does not get the green signal and the locomotive pilot halts there. The go-ahead signal is given by two neighbouring stations between which the train runs.
The mishap, according to the inspection team, occurred at 6.55 pm on Friday when 10-12 coaches of Train 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed near Bahanaga and fell on the the adjoining track, after hitting the goods train.
Minutes later, Train 12846 Yeswantpur-Howrah Superfast Express rammed into the derailed coaches, causing the terrible crash. It was stated that all victims were from the Coromandel Express.
More than 1,000 passengers, including critically injured individuals, are receiving treatment at government and private hospitals in Bahanaga, Soro, Balasore, Bhadrak, and Cuttack. Pramila Mallick, Odisha's revenue minister, confirmed the death count and assured that efforts were underway to facilitate the handover of bodies to their families for final rites.
Apart from Prime Minister Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Odisha governor Ganeshi Lal, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited the accident site to assess the relief and rescue operations and meet with the injured patients at hospitals.
The Centre has announced ex gratia compensation of '10 lakh in case of death, '2 lakh for grievous injuries and '50,000 for minor injuries from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for each of the passengers.
The Odisha government announced a one-day state mourning to pay homage to the departed souls. The Tamil Nadu government also declared a one-day state mourning.
Hundreds of personnel of the Indian Air Force, Army, National Disaster Response Force, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and Odisha Fire Services were engaged in the rescue operation. The rescue operation was almost over till Saturday evening.
Odisha Chief Minster Naveen Patnaik thanked the rescue personnel for accomplishing the daunting task of rescuing the passengers under and inside the mangled coaches and getting the injured admitted to hospitals.
Amid the gloom and shadow, a large number of volunteers were seen on Friday night queuing up at various hospitals in Balasore to donate blood for the injured passengers. Nearly 500 units of blood were collected last night.
"It’s a terrible tragedy. I pay my respects to the departed souls. We have mobilised relief and rescue teams from West Bengal, Tata Nagar and Bhubaneswar. Now, our focus is on relief and rescue operations. We are also trying to ensure that the relatives of the injured and slain passengers get information as early as possible. Efforts for restoration of the track have also begun," said railway minister Vaishnaw.
The scenes at various hospitals in Soro and Balasore were heartbreaking, as family members and relatives were seen weeping inconsolably.
