Adds that the Commissioner of Railway Safety will start an inquiry into the accident on Monday

The Railway Ministry on Sunday admitted to ground-level lapses in maintenance work near Muzaffarnagar that led to derailment of at least 13 coaches of the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express on Saturday evening in Uttar Pradesh.

“During our visit to the accident site, we found that some repair equipments were kept on the track side. One reason could be that there was some repair work going on and precaution may not have been taken,” Railway Board Member Traffic Mohammad Jamshed said during a press conference here on Sunday.

He added that the authorities are also examining an audio clip circulating on social media platform WhatsApp and media channels in which “local rail officer admitted to negligence during the maintenance work.”

Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northern Circle, Shailesh Kumar Pathak will begin inquiry into the accident on Monday. The CRS conducts inquiry into serious rail accidents and administratively falls under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Number of dead and injured

At 5.46 pm on Saturday, 13 coaches of the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed at at Khatauli, near Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Jamshed said 20 people were killed and 92 passengers were injured out of which 22 were grievously injured. Around six-seven coaches capsized and another three-four coaches were “smashed” causing damage to 200 metres of railway track and the overhead equipments, the Railway Board official said.

State officials, however, say 24 people have died so far in the accident. Officials have also revised the number of injured to 156. A press released sent by the office of the Director General of Police on Saturday night said around 400 had been injured.

The number of dead is likely to go up as at least 20 of the 156 injured are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, ten of the accident victims have been identified. The list is Sukhi Prajapati (Madhya Pradesh), Alok Sarkar (New Delhi), Vishnu Goswami (Gwalior), Rinki Kumari (Agra), Karishma (Saharanpur), Brijraj Pandey (Gwalior), Sumit Garg (Saharanpur), Rampal Singh Sharma (Muzaffarnagar), Vineet Mittal (Muzaffarnagar), Braj Kumar Prajapati (Gwalior), Sheetal Singh Khushwaha (Gwalior), Pramod Kumar (Muzaffarnagar) and Aarti (MP).

Prima facie inquiry

Meanwhile, the Government Railway Police (GRP) has filed a case under Section 151, Section 154 and Section 427 of the Railways Act 1989 for causing damage to railway property, endangering safety of persons travelling by rail by rash or negligent act and mischief causing damage, respectively.

The Railway will conduct a prima facie inquiry to ascertain whether or not procedures mentioned in the maintenance manuals were followed while undertaking the repair work. “We will ascertain the prima facie cause and take strict action against the responsible officer till evening,” Mr. Jamshed said.

He said precautionary measures to stop the train are usually taken whenever there are problems detected on the track or equipments are damaged or a rail fracture is found.

Earlier, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu blamed the Railway Board and said he wont “allow laxity” in its operations. “(I) have directed CRB [Chairman Railway Board] to fix responsibility on prima facie evidence by the end of day.”

(With inputs from Mohammad Ali and Omar Rashid)