Probe into train mishap begins

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE, JUNE 25. The Commissioner of Railway Safety, Mr. Pranab Kumar Sen, inquiring into the train mishap at Kadalundi, near here, on June 22, began his sitting at the Kozhikode railway station today.

The Commission will continue its sitting tomorrow also. The Commission's proceedings here today related to eliciting information from passengers of the ill-fated train. Many of those examined were people who had suffered injuries in the mishap and had since been released after treatment at hospitals.

As many as 25 people were questioned today on their experience at the time of the accident and other relevant details which would help determine the cause of the mishap.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety is an autonomous body under the Central Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Besides Mr. Sen, the Southern Railway Chief Safety Officer, Mr. Abraham Jacob, the Divisional Railway Manager, Mr. Amarnath, and top Railway officials were present during the proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Southern Railway has reiterated its figure of 49 as the number of persons killed in the train accident, including the railway employee Sadanandhan who succumbed to injuries today.

The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Om Prakash Narayan, asserted that it was likely that there was a duplication in the number of persons declared as dead in hospitals, and this anomaly had probably hiked the exact toll. The Railways, therefore, put the figure at 49.

The extrication from the Kadalundipuzha of two-and-a-half bogies which toppled from the bridge had been completed, he added.

The otherwise buzzing Kozhikode Railway Station presented a desolate picture today. There was hardly any activity of food and magazine vendors with many trains passing through the station standing cancelled. These included the up and down Chennai- Mangalore Mail, the Parasuram Express, the Mangala Express, the Kurla Express, Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram Express and besides the night trains such as Rajadhani and Cochin-Rajkot Express.

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Section  : Southern States
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