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We have identified the cause of the accident and the people responsible for it," India's railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told ANI news agency on Sunday, adding that it was "not appropriate" to disclose further details before the final investigation report. The provisional toll from Friday's collision between three trains near Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha, has put the death toll at 275. A first assessment had reported 288 people killed, before being revised slightly downwards.
According to the minister, "the change that occurred during the electronic interlocking is at the origin of the accident", referring to a complex set of signals managing traffic on the tracks to prevent the collision of trains. "The culprit and how the accident occurred will be discovered after a proper investigation," he added.
India : at least 288 dead and 900 injured in train accident, rescue operations completed
The train would have been diverted to another track due to human error
Confusion reigns at this stage but the Times of India, citing the preliminary investigation report, also reported on Sunday that in addition to this signalling problem, "human error" may have caused the collision between three trains. The Coromandel Express, linking Kolkata to Madras, was reportedly given the green light to run on the main track on Friday but was diverted due to human error on a track where a freight train was already located, according to the newspaper.
The passenger train then collided with the freight convoy at a speed of approximately 130 km/h. Three cars then fell on the adjacent track, hitting the rear of an express train that was flying between Bangalore and Kolkata. It was this collision that caused the most damage, the Times added, citing the preliminary report.
Odisha State Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena confirmed that about 900 injured people had been hospitalized.
