BALASORE, India — A signal error caused a collision that has killed at least 275 people and injured more than 1,000, according to India’s railway minister.
The Guardian reports that Ashwini Vaishnaw said the full investigation into the Friday crash was continuing but “the root cause has been identified.” Preliminary findings indicate the train, the Coromandel Express was initially given a green signal to enter the main line, but then was sent into another track, known as the loop line, where it struck a stationary train of iron ore. The Express was traveling at 80 mph at the time; some of its cars then it another express heading in the opposite direction, causing some of that train’s cars to derail, as well.
Vaishnaw would not say if human error was a part of the signal malfunction: “Who has done it and what is the reason will come out of an investigation,” he said. The railway ministry is seeking a criminal investigation by the government’s Central Bureau of Investigation.
The death toll had been placed at 288, but has been revised downward after it was determined some bodies had been counted twice.
The BBC reports about 2,000 people were believed to be aboard the two passenger trains. The Coromandel Express travels between Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras), a route of about 1,000 miles; the Howrah Superfast Express was en route from Yesvantpur to Howrah, a trip of about 1,200 miles.
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