Capt orders probe with 4week deadline
Toll 61; 143 hurt, CM meets victims at 3 hospitals, GRP register negligence case against unidentified persons Railways rules out punitive action against train driver; Oppncongress indulge in mudslinging, blame game
AMRITSAR: The railways was not informed about the Dussehra event along the tracks in Amritsar, officials said on Saturday, a day after 61 revellers were mowed down by a train while Ravana’s effigy went up in flames in a loud burst of firecrackers.
Grief, shock and outrage swirled in the air as families, officials and others tried to piece together the sequence of events of the festivities, which went horribly wrong when the train from Jalandhar came hurtling down the tracks where scores of people were standing to get a better view of the spectacle.
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who visited the tragedy site near Jaura Phatak and three hospitals, announced a magisterial probe that the Jalandhar divisional commissioner would complete in four weeks. He said 57 people were killed, while sub divisional magistrate, Amritsar-1, Rajesh Sharma, said 61 people, including 14 children and 13 women, had died at the event, 50 metres from the railway track. “The number of injured being treated at various hospitals in the district has gone up to 143,” Sharma said.
Except nine, most of the bodies have been identified, Capt Amarinder Singh told reporters. Deputy commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said, “Twenty bodies have been kept at Amritsar civil hospital and Guru Nanak Dev hospital’s mortuary houses for their identification.”
Most of those killed are migrant labourers from UP and Bihar. An FIR was registered against unknown persons, the officials said. Though the Amritsar municipal corporation maintained no permission was given, the police admitted it had allowed the event after the station house officer of the area gave clearance. “Nobody applied for permission to the MC,” commissioner Sonali Giri said.
IT’S NOT RAILWAYS FAULT, SAYS MINISTER
Minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha ruled out any punitive action against the driver of the train. “The incident was not the railways’ fault. No action against the driver will be initiated. If precaution had been taken, the accident could have been averted,” he said.
Railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani, who visited the spot at midnight, said the railways was not informed about the event and the accident occurred on the stretch between Amritsar and Manawala stations and not at a level crossing.
“At midsections, trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections, there is no railway staff posted,” he said.
By morning, the tracks at Jaura Phatak had been cleared of bodies and body parts that were strewn after the accident.
Tensions ran high as police, which barricaded the area, tried chasing protesters away. If antigovernment slogans were heard at Jaura Phatak, loud cries broke the silence at the hospitals.
Recounting the minutes before the disaster, most of the injured said they could not hear the horn of the train.
Opposition parties, including the Akali Dal, BJP and the AAP, demanded strict action against those who gave permission for holding the event. “Action will be taken against those responsible. The probe will cover all aspects. Only an inquiry can tell who gave the permission,” Amarinder said, adding that it was not the time to play political games on the issue.