Nearly 300 people were killed, and hundreds were injured in the catastrophe near Balasore on Friday night in the eastern state of Odisha. Trains rattled by the wreckage of the busted carriages.
Trains resume service after crash: The death toll was first recorded as 288, but when some bodies were accidentally counted twice, the Odisha state administration amended the figure to 275.
Authorities said on Sunday that 382 of the 1,175 injured were still being treated in hospitals.
Many worry that the death toll could increase because medical facilities are overloaded with victims, many of whom are in critical condition.
On either side of the tracks, green netting was put up to block the view of passing passengers from the crumpled carriages that had been forced down the embankment.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the railway minister, was seen bowing his head in prayer as the first train passed the accident site late on Sunday.
According to the railway’s ministry, the first cargo train carrying coal began 51 hours after the collision.
Since trains only used one side of the tracks on Monday, it was unclear if all of the tracks had been completely fixed.
Although the precise sequence of events on Friday was unclear, sources cited railway authorities who claimed that a signaling malfunction had diverted the Coromandel Express onto a side track from Kolkata to Chennai in the south.
It collided with a goods train, derailing an express traveling north from Bengaluru, India’s tech powerhouse, to Kolkata.
Vaishnaw Assures Thorough Inquiry and Accountability in Railway Accidents
Vaishnaw said on Sunday that the accident was caused by a “change that occurred during electronic interlocking,” using a technical word for a sophisticated signal system to prevent railway collisions by controlling how the trains move along the rails.
After a thorough inquiry, “Whoever did it and how it happened will be found out,” he stated.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the disaster site and the hospitals housing the injured passengers, declaring that “no one responsible” will go unpunished.