9 killed, in TN train crash, human error suspected

Sitheri (TN), Sept 14 (PTI) A human error may have led
to the train accident last night in which nine persons were
killed with Indian Railway authorities Wednesday saying the
driver of the EMU train that rammed into the rear of a
stationary passenger train jumped a few signals and ignored
speed restrictions.
The driver of the Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment
Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) train that crashed
into the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger as it was waiting for
signal clearance here around 9.40 pm Tuesday night also jumped
out of his cabin just before the collision near Arakkonam
junction, Railway officials said.
At least 100 persons were also injured in the collision
which led to derailment of five coaches at Sitheri, about 90
km from Chennai, police and railway officials said. Three of
the five derailed coaches were of the stationary train.
Rescue workers used gas cutters to help pull out the
trapped passengers from the derailed bogies while two cranes
were pressed into service to clear the tracks.
Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal said that according
to preliminary report it could be a human error.
"The driver(of MEMU train) apparently had passed a few
signals at yellow and a few at red also and has collided with
the passenger train waiting for signal clearance a a speed in
excess of 90 km per hour," said Deepak Kishan, General Manager
of Southern Railway.
"Why he has done that we don't know, The driver is very
badly injured and apparently just before the impact he jumped
out of the train and injured himself," he added.
The driver identified as A Rajkumar is among the
injured and a breath analyser test showed he was not under the
influence of alcohol, officials said.
The impact of the collision could be gauged from the
heap of mangled metal and derailed bogies which the rescue
workers are trying to clear.
Officials said the last bogie of the stationary train
bore the brunt under the impact of the collision.
Railway Ministry spokesperson Anil Kumar Saxena said
prima facie the cause of the accident seems to be overlooking
of the signal and non-adherance of the speed restrictions.
Railways have ordered an inquiry into the train accident.
"The Commissioner Railway Safety, Southern zone, SK
Mittal will conduct an inquiry into the cause of the accident
and submit the report at the earliest," Railway Ministry
spokesperson Anil Kumar Saxena said in New Delhi.
Indian Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who visited the
hospital in the capitl of south Indian state Chennai where the
injured have been admitted, said a comprehensive probe would
be launched to ascertain if the accident occurred due to human
error or technical fault.
Terming the accident as "unfortunate", he said
preliminary investigation has revealed that the accident took
place due to over speeding of the EMU train.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Assembly has expressed grief
over the accident and conveyed its condolences to the families
of the victims.
When the Assembly met for the day, Speaker D Jayakumar
moved a resolution and expressed "shock" and "grief" over the
mishap.
The accident disrupted train services to Coimbatore and
Bangalore in the Chennai-Katpadi section and both the up and
down track were expected to be restored by around 6 PM today.
This is the third major rail accident in two months.On
July 10, 70 people were killed when the Howrah-Kalka Mail
derailed near Kanpur and three weeks later some coaches of
Guwahati-Bangalore Express derailed in eastern Indian state
West Bengal's Malda district and were hit by another train
leaving three dead. PTI DSJ
HMI