By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : A high-level probe has been ordered into the train accident in Orissa’s Jajpur district that claimed at least 15 lives and injured over 150, an official said Saturday.
“A high-level probe has been ordered to ascertain the reasons behind Friday’s accident,” J.P. Mishra, chief public relations officer of East Coast Railway, told IANS.
The Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed Friday evening near the Jajpur-Keonjhar Road railway station, over 100 km from here.
While 14 coaches went off the track, at least four of them including the engine were badly damaged, Mishra said.
Railway authorities said at least nine dead bodies had been recovered and they fear there could be more trapped under the mangled coaches.
“Rescue and relief operations are still on,” the official said.
“It was dark and we saw there was a spark of light. We rushed to the spot and saw the train had derailed,” said Rabindra Rout, a resident of a nearby village who rushed to the spot minutes after the accident.
“People were screaming for help. We rescued many people in critical condition,” he added.