The civil aviation ministry has asked airlines to take action in case of an abnormal surge in airfares to and from Bhubaneswar in view of the three-train crash in Odisha’s Balasore on Friday evening.
The ministry also advised airlines not to levy penal charges for cancellation and rescheduling of air tickets.
“In view of the unfortunate accident in Odisha, the ministry of civil aviation has advised all airlines to monitor any abnormal surge in airfares to and from Bhubaneswar and other airports of the state and take necessary action regarding the same,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Further, any cancellation and rescheduling of flights due to the incident may be done without penal charges,” it added.
At least 288 people have died and over 800 others have been injured in one of the worst accidents involving three trains that happened at Balasore in Odisha on Friday night.
The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,000 passengers, and a goods train occurred around 7pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.
Seventeen coaches were derailed and severely damaged in the accident, trapping hundreds of passengers. Both passenger trains were at a high speed and it has been cited by experts as one of the main reasons for the high casualty.
Preliminary report suggests signal was given, then taken off
The national transporter has initiated a high-level probe into the train that will be headed by the commissioner of railway safety, South Eastern Circle, officials said.
While sources had earlier told news agency PTI that a signalling failure could be the reason behind the crash, railway officials said it is not yet clear if Coromandel Express entered the loop line and hit the stationary goods train or it first derailed and then hit the parked train after entering the loop line.
The preliminary probe report, a copy of which is with PTI, said the signal “was given and taken off for the up main line for train number 12841 but the train entered the up loop line and dashed with the goods train which was on the loopline and derailed”.
“In the meantime, (train number) 12864 passed through the down main line and two coaches of it derailed and capsized.”
(With inputs from agencies)
