Odisha Train Tragedy: Root Cause & People Responsible Identified, Says Rly Minister

After reviewing the restoration work at the crash site in Odisha’s Balasore, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that the root cause behind the accident and the people responsible for it have been identified.

Vaishnaw said that the accident that claimed over 280 lives took place due to a change in electronic interlocking.

Ashwini Vaishnaw was quoted by ANI saying, “The Commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come out. We have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it. It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking.”

He further said that currently their focus is on the restoration work which is targeted to be finished by next Wednesday.

He said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspected the site yesterday. We will try to restore the track today. All bodies have been removed. Our target is to finish the restoration work by Wednesday morning so the trains can start running on this track.”

Notably, several coaches of the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, on the way to Howrah, derailed and fell on an adjacent track. The 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express coming from the opposite direction on a parallel track rammed into the derailed coaches. Some Coromandel Express coaches derailed and hit the stationary goods train on the third track.

The horrific train accident on the night of June 2 claimed the lives of nearly 300 people and left over 900 injured. The train crash, the fourth deadliest in India according to available records, happened near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, around 7 pm last Friday.