Signaling system error blamed for India train crash killing over 300

The train derailment in eastern India that killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds more was caused by an error in the electronic signaling system that led a train to wrongly change tracks, India’s railways minister said June 4.

’’Who has done it and what is the reason will come out of an investigation,” NBC News quotes Ashwini Vaishnaw as saying in an interview with New Delhi Television network.

The explanation came as authorities worked to clear the mangled wreckage of the two passenger trains that derailed on June 2 night in Balasore district of eastern Odisha state, in one of the country’s deadliest rail accidents in decades.

The Press Trust of India news agency earlier reported that preliminary investigations revealed that a signal was given to the Coromandel Express to enter the main track line but the signal was later taken off. The train entered another line, known as the loop line, and crashed into a goods train parked there, PTI said.

Fifteen bodies were recovered on June 3 evening and efforts continued overnight as heavy cranes were used to remove an engine that had settled on top of a rail car. No bodies were found in the engine and the work was completed on Sunday morning, said Sudhanshu Sarangi, director-general of fire and emergency services in Odisha.

The accident occurred at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focusing on the modernisation of the British colonial-era railroad network in India, which has become the world’s most populous country with 1.42 billion people. Despite government efforts to improve rail safety, several hundred accidents occur every year on India’s railways, the largest train network under one management in the world.

Chaotic scenes erupted on June 2 night as rescuers climbed atop the wrecked trains to break open doors and windows using cutting torches to try to save people who were trapped inside the rail cars.