An official, however, said that these were preliminary findings and that a detailed investigation was underway.
The Railway Board on Sunday said that preliminary findings have suggested that a signalling error may have led to three trains colliding in Odisha’s Balasore earlier this week, ANI reported.
The accident, which took place on Friday, left 275 passengers dead and over 900 injured.
Jaya Varma, a member of the Railway Board’s operation and business development department, said at a press conference that an investigation into the collision is underway and so, nothing concrete can be said. She added that the board is awaiting a detailed report from the Commissioner of Railway Safety.
“I would also like to clarify that only one train, Coromandel Express, met with the accident,” Varma said on Sunday. “The train collided with a goods train carrying iron ore. The engine of the train along with some of its coaches went over the goods train. The impact of the collision was so strong because the train was at its full speed of 128 kilometres per hour.
She added: “The second issue was that the goods train was carrying iron ore, which is very heavy material. Due to this, the entire impact of the collision fell on the passenger train.”
On June 2, the Coromandel Express, which was travelling from Howrah to Chennai, collided with the goods train that was parked at the loop line near Odisha’s Balasore. The Coromandel Express had initially been given the green signal to enter the Up Main Line, but the signal was later taken off.
