The PRO of Railways Anil Saxena on Wednesday confirmed twelve deaths in the twin train derailment incident of Madhya Pradesh.
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“According to reports, there was a possible burst in a nearby dam which caused sudden flow of water on the tracks and that resulted in the derailment”, Railway Board Chairman A K Mittal told PTI.
Former Union Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi took a dig at the Narendra Modi government, saying the country needs better tracks and not bullet trains.
The minister said a statutory inquiry has been ordered and the commissioner (Safety) will conduct the probe.
“The exact number of casualties are still being ascertained”, he said.
“The accident took place late Tuesday and I have been monitoring the situation the whole night”. Another ARMV reached Khirkiya station at 0325 hours.
He said Rs.50,000 would be given to those grievously injured and Rs.25,000 to those with minor injuries.
Earlier, Prabhu made a statement in both Houses of Parliament before setting out for the accident site.
Railways is improving but it just a beginning and there is a “long way to go”, the Minister said as he responded to issues and concerns raised by members in the House which was boycotted by Congress and nine other parties.
Prabhu then started reading out from what appeared to be a full-page statement but the continued slogan shouting drowned his voice. He said he along with his junior minister will be “going personally” to the accident site to review relief and rescue operations. Soon thereafter, Prabhu left the House.
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The members stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.
