Union Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jaya Suryaprakash Reddy on Wednesday said a detailed inquiry would be carried out into the derailment of 11 compartments of Muzaffarpur-Yashvantpur Express (15228) and action would be taken against those found to have committed lapses.
Talking to the media after inspecting the accident spot at Chitheri, the minister said, “An enquiry will be ordered into the accident. Strict action will be taken against whom lapses are found.”
He added that the department would take the safety of passengers into serious consideration.
Calling the accident as unfortunate, General Manager of Southern Railway, Rakesh Mishra, said that the department’s engineering wing workforce had commenced restoration work in full swing. They had already restored one track and there was a lot of work to be done on another track. “We are using a crane to straighten capsized bogies. By 11 am on Thursday, we will restore another line,” he said.
Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Southern Circle, Bangalore, S K Mittal reached the accident spot around 4.30 pm and conducted inquiries with railway officials at the accident spot.
Mittal announced that he would hold an inquiry into accident and that it would be held at the Divisional Railway Manager’s office in Chennai on April 15 and 16, the officials further said.
Additional Director General of Police (Railways) R Sekar, who also reached the spot to review the rescue operations, said that the department would conduct a detailed inquiry into the accident. “We will look into all sides of the investigation,” he noted. Senior Divisional Security Commissioner of Railway Protection Force S R Gandhi and Superintendent of Police (Railways) A Kayalvizhi accompanied him.
Collectorate P Sankar, who reached the spot early in the morning, directed the revenue officials to arrange for transport facility to ferry the stranded passengers of the train to Katpadi Railway Station. A total of 11 buses were arranged to transport the passengers, who escaped without injuries in the accident, to Katpadi Station to board trains to their respective destinations.
State Health Minister K C Veeramani met the injured passengers at the hospital and directed the doctors to provide good treatment. He also inspected the accident spot.