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BARASAR, India (AP) – A train derailment in eastern India that killed 275 and injured hundreds was caused by an error in an electronic signaling system that caused a train to erroneously change tracks and collide with a freight train. Officials said on Sunday that it was the cause.
Authorities worked to remove the dismembered wreckage of two passenger trains that derailed in one of the most devastating rail accidents in decades in the Barasore district of Orissa on Friday night.
A statement by the Orissa government revised the death toll to 275 after top state officials put the death toll at over 300 on Sunday morning. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
A senior railway official, Jaya Verma Sinha, said preliminary investigations had shown that the high-speed Coromandel Express had been signaled to run on the main line, but then the signal changed and the train instead entered the adjacent loop line. said. It rammed into a cargo laden with iron ore.
The collision caused the Coromandel Express carriage to fall onto another track, and derailed the Yesvanpur-Howrah Express coming in from the other side.
The passenger train carrying 2,296 people was not overspeeding. Freight trains often stop at adjacent loop lines so that the main line remains free for passing trains.
Verma said the root cause of the accident was related to an error in the electronic signaling system. He said further investigation would reveal whether the error was human or technical.
The electronic interlocking system is a safety device to prevent collisions between trains. It also monitors the status of signals that let drivers know how close the next train is, how fast it can go, and whether any trains are on the track.
“The system is 99.9% error free. But there is always a 0.1% chance of an error,” Verma said. When asked if her crash was a possible act of sabotage, she replied, “Nothing is ruled out.”
On Sunday, several wrecked carriages were torn apart and overturned, the only remains of the tragedy. Under the glare of the sun, railroad workers struggled to lay cement blocks to repair broken tracks. Workers with excavators were clearing the crash site, removing mud and debris.
At one of the hospitals, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the scene, survivors described their horror at the moment of the crash.
Pantry employee Inder Mahat could not recall the exact sequence of events, but said he heard a loud bang as the Coromandel Express hit the cargo. Mahat, who was in the bathroom, lost consciousness for a moment due to the impact.
After a while he opened his eyes to see people writhing in agony through the forced open door, many of them already dead. Others were desperately trying to escape the twisted wreckage of his railcar.
Mahat, 37, remained trapped in a train toilet for hours until rescuers piled up the wreckage and pulled him out.
“God saved me,” he said as he lay in his hospital bed recovering from a hairline fracture to his sternum. “I am very lucky to be alive.”
Mahat’s friends were not so lucky. Four of them died in the accident.
Meanwhile, many desperate relatives struggled to identify the bodies of their loved ones due to the severity of their injuries. Few sought hospitals to see if relatives were alive.
At the same hospital where Mahat was recovering from her injuries, Burti Katun dazedly wandered around the premises, holding her husband’s ID, who was on the Coromandel Express bound for southern Chennai city.
Khatun said he had visited and searched morgues and other hospitals, but had not been found.
“I am so helpless,” she cried.
Fifteen bodies were recovered on Saturday evening and operations continued overnight, including using a large crane to remove the engine placed on top of the vehicle. No bodies were found inside the engine and the work was completed on Sunday morning, said Sudhansh Sarangi, director of the Orissa Fire and Emergency Department.
The accident comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi focuses on modernizing the British colonial rail network in India, which has become the world’s most populous country with 1.42 billion people.despite government efforts to improve safetyHundreds of accidents occur on Indian railways every year.the world’s largest rail network under a single administration.
Modi visited the crash site on Saturday and spoke with rescue officials. He also visited the hospital to inquire about the status of the wounded and spoke with some of them.
Modi told reporters he felt the pain of the crash victims. He said the government will do everything in its power to help them and will severely punish those found responsible.
In 1995, two trains collided near New Delhi in one of India’s worst rail accidents, killing 358 people. In 2016, a passenger train slid off the tracks between the cities of Indore and Patna, killing 146 people.
Most of these accidents in India are attributed to human error and outdated signaling equipment.
Approximately 22 million people board 14,000 trains across India every day, traveling 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track.
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Sarik and Sharma reported from New Delhi.
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This article corrects the death toll reported in the government announcement.
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