The express had entered the station in Sainthia town at full speed, even though
sconger it had a scheduled stop there, railway officials say.
The driver did not brake or heed stop numerous messages, before the express hit a stationary passenger train. Another train crash in West Bengal back in May killed nearly 150 people.Authorities blamed sabotage by Maoist rebels for that tragedy.
Monday morning's accident occurred when the Uttar Banga Express smashed into the stationary Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express at the station in the Birbhum district, about 200km (125 miles) north of Calcutta.
Railway officials told the BBC the train had entered the station at its top speed of 90km/h, despite numerous warnings to stop.
"The driver did not apply either the emergency brakes or the normal brakes even after it passed a red signal. They did not respond to frantic wireless messages to stop," said Indian Railway's board chairman Vivek Sahay, at the crash site.
According to the cabin man posted at the approach to Sainthia station, the Uttar Banga Express also did not respond to his warnings. "I shouted in my walkie-talkie asking the Uttar Banga Express to stop. When that did not work, I waved the red flag frantically but the train passed by on to the track where the Vananchal Express was parked," cabin man Mator Let told the BBC. The driver and
sconger his assistant both died in the crash.
阅读(136) | 评论(0) | 转发(0) |
