Rail services have resumed over a stretch of the railway network in eastern India where a train crash killed 275 people – as an investigation into the disaster began.
Around 1,200 people were also injured in Friday’s rail crash – India’s worst for more than two decades, which has been blamed on a signalling failure.
Video footage on Monday showed a train passing slowly past the crash site – near the district of Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha – while the repair work continued at the side of the tracks.
Meanwhile, railway officials and witnesses gathered to submit evidence to a two-day inquiry into what happened.
King Charles has sent a message of condolence to the President of India, saying he and the Queen were “profoundly shocked” by what happened.
He said: “I would like to express our deepest possible condolences to the families of all those who have so tragically lost their lives.
“I do hope you know what a special place India and the people of India have in our hearts. I have particularly fond memories of visiting Odisha in 1980 and meeting some of its people on that occasion.
“I pray, therefore, that you may be able to convey our most heartfelt prayers and sympathy to all those who have been affected by this appalling tragedy, together with our special thoughts for the people of Odisha.”
Jaya Varma Sinha, a senior railway official, said a preliminary investigation found a signal was given to the high-speed Coromandel Express to run on the main track – but the signal later changed.
Prime minister Narendra Modi at the crash site on Saturday. Pic: Government of India
The train instead entered an adjacent loop line – a side track used for parking – where it rammed into a freight train loaded with iron ore.
The collision flipped the Coromandel coaches on to another track, causing the incoming Yesvantpur-Howrah Express from the opposite side to also derail, she said.
She added that the passenger trains, carrying 2,296 people, were not speeding.
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“The system is 99.9% error free. But 0.1% chances are always there for an error,” she said.
Families of those killed will receive one million rupees (£9,750) in compensation, while the seriously injured will get 200,000 rupees (£1,950), with 50,000 rupees (£487) for minor injuries, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.
