The Hirakhand Express which was derailed at Kuneru railway station in Vizianagaram district on Saturday night | R V K Rao

High level probe into Hirakhand Express derailment begins

A high-level probe was set in motion into the derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhanda Express that claimed 39 lives in Andhra Pradesh.

BHUBANESWAR: A high-level probe was set in motion into the derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhanda Express that claimed 39 lives in Andhra Pradesh, even as train services resumed on the route today.

The process of investigation by the Commissioner of Railway Safety commenced to ascertain the cause of the train mishap that took place on Saturday night near Kuneru in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Prade, an East Coast Railways (ECoR) official said.

Ram Kripal, Commissioner of Railway Safety, South Central Circle, Secuderabad, under the Ministry of Civil Aviation is holding the statutory inquiry, he said.

After visiting the accident site where nine bogies and the engine of the train had jumped off the track, the commission is at present conducting the inquiry at the Officers' Rest House (open line) at Rayagada.

Thereafter, the inquiry will start from 10.30 AM tomorrow at the divisional railway manager's office, Dondaparthy, Visakhapatanam, the official said.

"Any member of the public having knowledge relating to this accident and matters connected therewith and desiring to give evidence may do say at above places on the dates of inquiry or write to the Commissioner Of Railway Safety, South Central Circle...," a railway notification said.

"The investigation will look into all aspects relating to the train derailment to ascertain the exact cause of the tragic incident," said an ECoR officer.

Meanwhile, normal train services resumed on Rayagada-Vizianagaram railway section after remaining disrupted for around 36 hours following the derailment as the track was cleared, he said.

All the nine mangled bogies and the train engine which had derailed have been removed from the track with the help of heavy machinery and cranes, the officer said, adding normal train operations resumed on the route after repair of the damaged track at the site.

Meanwhile, ECoR today released the list of all the 39 people who were killed in the train derailment after establishing their identities. Almost all the bodies have been handed over to their relatives after conduct of postmortem, the officer added.