Modi vows to punish those responsible for India train disaster
THOSE responsible for India’s deadliest train crash in decades “will be punished stringently”, Narendra Modi said yesterday as he fought criticism of his government in the wake of the disaster.
“It’s a painful incident. The government will leave no stone unturned for the treatment of those injured … Instructions [have been] issued for [a] probe from every angle,” the Indian prime minister said.
More than 280 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured when two passenger trains derailed in the eastern state of Odisha on Friday night.
Mr Modi’s government has made transport a priority and has spent billions on improving the railway system in recent years, including safety – but Friday’s crash is believed to be the deadliest in more than 20 years. Mr Modi was supposed to spend yesterday inaugurating a high-speed train connecting Goa and Mumbai that is equipped with a collision avoidance system.
Instead, the prime minister flew to the crash site, where the anti-collision system had not been installed, and later went to hospitals to meet some of the injured. Ashwini Vaishnaw, the railways minister, yesterday faced calls to resign. The disaster comes less than a year before a general election.
Daylight yesterday morning revealed the full scale of the devastation.
At least 10 carriages could be seen scattered along a destroyed section of track, some lying on their sides, others stacked on top of each other.
According to media reports, the two trains collided with such force that carriages were thrown into the air, twisting before smashing back to the ground. A third train then crashed into the derailed carriages.
Images broadcast on local television showed long lines of bodies laid out under white sheets. The drone footage also showed large crowds of residents helping at the scene. Officials said 1,200 rescuers worked through the night with 115 ambulances and 45 mobile health units. Indian Air Force helicopters were also deployed to help evacuate injured passengers.
Initial reports suggest a signal failure may have caused the crash.