Odisha train crash: CBI registers FIR in Coromandel Express train accident; team visits site
New Delhi, June 6: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case in the tragic three-train crash in Odisha's Balasore district on June 2.
In a statement, the CBI said, "On the request of the Ministry of Railways, consent of the Odisha Government and further orders from DoPT(Govt of India) relating to the three-train crash involving Coromandel Express, Yashwantpur-Howrah Express and a goods train at Bahanaga Bazar in Odisha on June 2, 2023, the CBI has taken over the investigation of the case earlier registered at Balasore GRPS, Cuttack (Odisha) vide GRPS case No.64 dated June 3 regarding the said accident."
The statement further reads that a CBI team has reached Balasore and the investigation has begun. A senior official said, "A team of the CBI with experts will investigate to find out if it was a deliberate attempt to derail the Coromandel Express or it was human error. The team is camping at the site."
The tragic train accident killed 278 persons and left 1,100 injured. It is one of the worst accidents suffered by the public transporter since 1995.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had on Sunday said the Railway Board had recommended a CBI probe into the tragic accident. The minister had also said the accident occurred due to a "change in electronic interlocking".
Electronic interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that facilitates the safe movement of a train through an arrangement of tracks. The aim of this system is that no train gets the signal to proceed unless the route is safe. The Railways is also conducting a probe into the accident.
- ANI
