Probe ordered into Coromandel train mishap

A high-level probe to be conducted by the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety and other senior officials has been ordered to find out the exact reason of the derailment of the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express train on Friday evening near the Jajpur-Keonjhar Road railway station in Orissa that killed 12 people and left about 150 injured.

•   E-mail Article
•   Printer Friendly
•   Text-Size    

"A statutory commission of inquiry has been set up," said the Chief Public Relations Officer of East Coast Railway (ECOR) J P Mishra on Saturday.

Minister of State for Railways, R Velu, said probe to be conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety would submit the report within seven days. It could be technical, human error or any other factor, he said when asked about the possible reasons for the derailment.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had earlier put the death toll at 15 but Railway officials on Saturday said that the anticipation was based on the preliminary assessment, but it is now confirmed that 12 people were killed in the mishap.

It is reported that only 45 of the injured passengers were admitted to different hospitals of which six are stated to be in critical conditions. Most of the injured were discharged after first aid.

Lalu Prasad announced a compensation of Rs five lakh and a job for the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 50,000 for seriously injured and Rs 10,000 for those with minor injuries.

Orissa DGP Manmohan Praharaj said the accident took place at 8 pm on Friday near Jaipur-Keonjhar Road railway station, about 100 km from Bhubaneswar. There is no stoppage for the train at this station. As many as 14 bogies had been completely derailed and overturned.

Two special trains carrying the passengers of the ill-fated train were left in opposition directions – one for Chennai and the other for Howrah.

The accident occurred hours after the Railway Minister presented interim rail budget in the Parliament gloating over how Indian Railways had become safer under his stewardship.

The East Coast Railway has started five help-line numbers for information about passengers. These are: 0674-2303728, 2303714, 2534694, 2534019 and 0671-2610209.