Union Railway Minister Sadananada Gowda said that prima facie the reason behind collision between the Lucknow Barauni Express and the Krishak Express that killed at least 12 and injured 45 others on Wednesday is because of negligence of loco pilot who jumped over the signal.
"Prima facie it is because of negligence of loco pilot who jumped over the signal and both the loco pilots have been suspended and a severe action will be taken against them. The investigation will be done by the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS), we have informed him and he has reviewed the situation," said Gowda who along with Gorakhpur Member of Parliament (MP) Mahant Adityanath had today visited the accident site.
Gowda further informed, "12 persons have expired and about 45 are injured, out of that about 18 are seriously injured, all medical treatments are being given and we immediately discussed the action plan also. An announcement of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased, 1 lakh to seriously injured and 20000 to people with minor injuries has been made."
He added that as soon as he got the information of the accident he immediately sent the officers for rescue operation.
"The district administration, Air Force, SSB and railways went immediately for the rescue operation, almost all the Injured were admitted to the neighboring hospitals and are being given full treatment," Gowda said.
He also said that all the family members and relatives who want to come to Gorakhpur and they will be given all the necessary help and all other activities right from taking the dead bodies and other things will be taken care of by the railways.
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He however said that by 8.30 in the morning tracks were cleared and the trains are running as usual in due course.
"Some new actions need to be taken as far as diversions and place of signals are concerned. Certainly we are at it and today's incident will teach a lesson for railways that in which direction we should go in points of signaling and other things. As far as safety and security is concerned all steps possible have been taken by the railways to avoid collisions," said Gowda.
At 12 least people died and 45 have been left seriously injured, after the Krishak Express had a side-collision when its locomotive collided with a moving train, the Lucknow-Barauni Express, near the Gorakhpur Cant station.
The eighth and ninth coaches capsized, while the seventh coach was derailed.
The Krishak Express was travelling from Varanasi to Gorakhpur while the Lucknow-Barauni Express was going from Lucknow to Barauni.
