Human Negligence Caused Utkal Express Derailment?

It now appears that the driver of Utkal Express was not warned of a line repair.

The terrible tragedy that claimed 23 lives in Uttar Pradesh following the derailment of Kalinga Utkal Express was allegedly caused by human negligence.

It now appears that the driver of the train was not warned of repair work being carried out and was not cautioned to reduce the speed.

As allegations of negligence against railway workers surface a day after the Kalinga Utkal Express derailed near Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, the Commissioner of Railway Safety will inspect the accident site on Monday.

Amidst all the blame game, an audio clip hints at alleged negligence on part of railway workers at the site where the accident took place on Saturday evening.

The audio clip has the conversation between a gateman and a railway official in which the former alleges that a portion of the track was broken and not welded by the workers. But the train was not shown a red flag to caution it against the under-repair railway track.

The audio clip subsequently went viral, sending Railway officials into a tizzy.

General Manager, Northern Railway, Rajiv Kulshetra said that if required the audio clip would be examined and could be used as an evidence.

Mohd Jamshed of the Railway Board admitted that some maintenance work was underway at the accident site.

Meanwhile, authorities have registered a criminal complaint against unknown people for mischief and causing deaths by negligence and began a probe into the accident.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu told the Chairman of the Railway Board to fix responsibility for the disaster. “Will not allow laxity in operations by the Board,” the Railway Minister tweeted.