At Least 40 on Coromandel Express ‘Electrocuted’, ‘Deliberate Interference’ as Reason Still Not Ruled Out

It is said that at least 40 passengers on the ill-fated Coromandel Express were electrocuted by severed overhead cables because they had sustained no external injury. Cables were reportedly snapped after the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express crashed into the derailed carriages of the Coromandel train at Balasore in Odisha.

The claim made by the police officer, who oversaw the rescue, matches the FIR which states that electrocution was the cause of many deaths after live overhead cables fell onto the compartments.

According to a report in Times of IndiaBabu Kumar Naik, Sub-Inspector of the State Railways Police (GRP), at the FIR held on Saturday around 1am, stated that: “Many passengers have died from injuries caused by collision and electrocution (after) contact with the lot (tension) low). ) line.”

“While many of the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition, there were about 40 bodies with no visible signs of injury or bleeding from anywhere. Many of these deaths were presumably the result of electrocution.” TOI.

The report also quoted Purna Chandra Mishra, who has retired as chief operating officer of the East Coast Railway, as saying that it was likely that those who were electrocuted were in contact with a portion of the bogies in that particular fraction of a second when they touched the overhead electrical cables. the train.

According to the TOI In the report, the GRP registered a negligent death (section 304-A of the IPC) against “unidentified individuals” and appointed a DSP officer to lead the investigation into the train tragedy before the CBI was called.

Cuttack Railway Branch Police Officer Ranjit Nayak was assigned to investigate on the basis of the complaint which was filed about six hours after the accident.

Another report in TOI It is reported that senior railway officials once again confirm that the accident occurred due to “deliberate interference” with the electronic interlocking system. This came as the Central Bank of Iraq on Monday launched its investigation into the incident.

The report quoted their sources as saying that an initial investigation by the railway company found some kind of “manual patching” was done using the “logic” of the interlocking system in the booth at Pahanaga Bazar station, which oversees the signals on the stretch. They added that the CBI would help ascertain the purpose of such an adjustment with this “secured system”.

A statement from the Odisha government revised the death toll to 275 after a senior government official put the number at more than 300 on Sunday morning. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The railways, in a press conference on Sunday, said that the triple train crash at Balasore in Odisha at about 6:55 am on June 2 was caused by a fault in the electronic signaling system which led to the train misrouting and crashing into a lorry. train.

Jaya Verma Sinha, a senior railway official, said initial investigations revealed that the high-speed Coromandel Express had been signaled to run on the main track line, but the signal was later changed and instead the train entered an adjacent loop line where it collided with a cargo loaded with iron ore.

It said the collision turned the coaches of the Coromandel Express onto another lane, causing the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express coming from the other side to derail.

It added that the passenger trains, carrying 2,296 passengers, did not have excessive speeds. Freight-carrying trains are often parked on an adjacent loop line so that the main line is clear of the passing train.

Verma said the root cause of the crash was related to a fault in the electronic signaling system. She said a detailed investigation would reveal whether the error was human or technical.

Most of these accidents in India are blamed on human error or outdated transmission equipment. About 22 million people ride 14,000 trains across India each day, traveling on 64,000 km (40,000 mi) of track.

(with input from the AP)