The country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said those found guilty of a deadly rail accident in eastern India will be “severely punished”.
At least 288 people were killed and more than 800 injured in Friday’s incident in Odisha state, including two passenger trains and a goods train.
Rescue operations have ended, officials say, and all stranded and injured passengers have been evacuated.
Mr. Modi visited the site and described the incident as “painful”.
He also visited disaster victims in hospital, vowing that his government would “leave no stone unturned to treat the injured”.
It is still unclear what caused the multi-train collision in Balasore district, which is being described as the worst rail accident of this century.
KS Anand, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway, said that a full investigation has been launched, but the preliminary report suggests that the accident was the result of a signal malfunction.
The two passenger trains are believed to have carried about 2,000 passengers.
The exact sequence of events has been the subject of conflicting accounts.
Several coaches of the Coromandel Express traveling between Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras) derailed at around 19:00 (13:30 GMT) after colliding with a stationary goods train, officials said. It is still unclear how the express ended up on the same track as the goods train.
Several coaches of the Coromandel Express then derailed on the opposite track. Another train traveling in the opposite direction – Yeswantpur to Howrah Howrah Super Fast Express – collided with the derailed bogies.
“The Coromandel Express was supposed to travel on the main line, but was signaled for the loop line instead, and the train collided with a goods train already stationed there,” Mr Anand said.
“Its coaches then fell on the tracks on both sides, and the Howrah Super Fast Express also derailed,” he said.
Ambulance sirens blare every 30 minutes outside SCB Hospital’s trauma center in Cuttack city – where seriously injured passengers are being wheeled away.
About 200 passengers have been rescued from the scene of the train crash so far, and the number continues to rise.
This hospital is the largest hospital in the state of Odisha, but is still three hours away from the accident site.
Hospital staff – from junior doctors to nurses and ward boys – line up and wait in groups to help patients as they are brought in.
Constant sounds of whistles and announcements from the hospital authorities interrupt the chaos.
The relatives of the injured are anxiously waiting outside for the welfare of their relatives. But many people are still searching for their loved ones, they have no trace.
A counter has been set up to help those who cannot locate their family members. It’s crowded, and the lists are long.
Some of the people JEE News met ran from the crash site to nearby hospitals before arriving at the facility in Cuttack – looking for their families who were on the trains.
