The Odisha government on Sunday revised the triple train accident’s death toll to 275 from 288, and put the number of injuries at 1,175. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that the overhead electrification work has begun at the accident site in Odisha's Balasore.
"Track linking of Up-line has been done at 16:45 hrs. Overhead electrification work started," he tweeted.
At least two railway lines in Odisha's Balasore are likely to be operational again by 8 p.m. today, according to the Railway Board. The three-train accident site is currently being restored.
Earlier in the day, Vaishnaw said the "root cause" of the accident and the "criminals" responsible for it have been identified. "It happened due to a change made in the electronic interlocking and point machine," he said at the site of the accident in Balasore district.
The Odisha government on Sunday revised the triple train accident’s death toll to 275 from 288, and put the number of injuries at 1,175.
Three trains— Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah super fast and a goods train — were involved in the pile-up on Friday, now being described as one of India’s worst train accidents. The Coromandel Express rammed into a stationary goods train and many of its carriages overturned including some onto another train - the Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express which was also passing by at the same time on Friday.
A preliminary report on Friday stated that the Coromandel Express had entered the loop line at the station on which an iron ore-laden goods train was parked. It also indicated that a tampering could have occurred stating that the signal was "given and taken off for the up main line for train number 12841 (Coromandel Express), the train entered the loop line, dashed the goods train and derailed. In the meantime, train number 12864 passed through the down main line and two of its coaches derailed and capsized."
Meanwhile, a PIL has also been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre for setting up an inquiry commission headed by a retired apex court judge to probe the cause of the train accident in Odisha's Balasore district.