Human error on the part of Railways could have caused the havoc according to the initial report

The Coromandel Express train accident in Balasore district of Odisha, in which close to 300 persons have died, may have been the result of human error since the train took the wrong track minutes before the tragedy, according to initial reports from the signaling control room of the railways media reports said.

According to a video from the signaling control room of Kharagpur division of the Railways, the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express took a loop line where the goods train was parked just after crossing Bahanagar Bazar station at about 6.55pm on June Second, instead of the main line, a senior Railway official was quoted by media reports.

The Coromandel Express, running at about 127 km per hour, collided with the goods train and derailed on the main line, an official from the railway ministry said. Within minutes of the collision,  the Howrah-bound Yashwantnagar Express coming from the opposite side collided with the Coromandel Express.

 “How it happened and why it happened, will be found in the detailed inquiry that the railway board has ordered. But, prima facie it appears to be a human error,” the official, said.

The cause of the accident will only be identified after a thorough examination

According to the same official, a similar accident occurred in 1995 in Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, where three trains collided. Around 350 persons were killed in that accident and the rescue operations went on for three days.