The Odisha Train Accident preliminary investigation revealed that signal failure was most likely to blame for a collision that resulted in at least 280 fatalities and 1,200 injuries. The formal probe into India’s deadliest rail accident in more than 20 years got underway on Monday.
Odisha Train Accident: The tragedy
The Odisha Train Accident occurred on Friday when a passenger train in the eastern state of Odisha crashed into a halted goods train, jumped the tracks, and struck another passenger train travelling in the other direction. 2,296 people were aboard the passenger trains.
A railway train switched tracks incorrectly in the state of Odisha in eastern India, colliding first with a cargo train and then a passenger train.
The Yesvantpur-Howrah Express, which was coming in from the opposite side, also derailed as a result of the collision, which forced the carriages of the Coromandel Express onto another track.
Odisha Train Accident: Rescue Operation
Hundreds of volunteers and members of the national disaster response force participated in a two-day rescue operation to recover remains and survivors from the rubble. Since then, family members have had trouble finding the bodies of their loved ones, many of whom had suffered severe disfigurement. The identities of around 100 bodies are still pending.
The disaster route, one of India’s oldest and busiest lines, resumed passenger and freight train service on Monday. The mangled cars still lying on the rails had netting over them to keep the passengers from seeing them.
As per railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and members of the railway board, the main focus of the investigation was the failure of the track management system, which automatically manages and regulates the signals for incoming trains and is designed to ensure they are always delivered to vacant tracks.
India’s network spans 40,000 kilometres thanks to the signalling system. A Monday order from the railway board directed that the system be fully reviewed and that safety reports from each of the 19 zones in the nation be filed by the following week.
Criminal probe into the Odisha train accident
The government asked the Central Bureau of Inquiry (CBI), a government agency, to launch a criminal investigation into the crash as an additional clue that arrests may be possible. A CBI team visited the area on Monday night to check for any evidence of criminal manipulation that might have led to the signal failure.
On Saturday, while visiting the scene of the Odisha train accident, PM Narendra Modi said, “Those found guilty will face severe punishment.”
The leader of the opposition Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge, alleged that “red flags” were disregarded and questioned why a criminal investigative agency was looking into the incident, accusing the administration of “apathy and negligence” over train safety. Kharge claimed that the CBI’s purpose was to look into crimes, not railway mishaps.
According to accounts, a malfunctioning interlocking system led to a similar event in the state of Karnataka in February. Before being sent down the wrong track, the train might be stopped, narrowly avoiding a crash.
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