The official death toll in the train accident near Kozhikode rose to 58 tonight as officials gave up hopes of finding any more survivors from the wreckage of the Chennai-bound Mangalore Mail.
The unofficial sources, however, put the number of deaths at 60 and many of the injured are said to be critical.
48 bodies have been been identified so far and around 120 survivors transported to Chennai by a special train.
120-Year Old Bridge To Blame
The tragedy could have been caused by the sinking of one of the piers of the bridge whilethe Mangalore- Chennai Mail was crossing it, Union Railways Minister Nitish Kumar saidon Saturday.
Talking to newspersons after visiting the accident site on Saturday morning,the minister said that the 120-year-old bridge was unable to take the weight ofthe train and was found to have sunk in.
He, however, added that the exact cause of the accident would be revealedonly after the completion of the inquiry.
Asked if he thought sabotage could be involved, Kumar said "we cannot jump to conclusions. Let us wait for thepreliminary probe report by the Rail Safety Commissioner."
He said the preliminary probe report would be ready in two to three days and a detailed inquiry would follow, ifnecessary.
The Minister, who arrived by a special train from Chennai to review the rescue work, announced immediate compensation,ex-gratia, of Rs one lakh to the next of kin of all those killed. Besides this,they would also be given an additional Rs 400,000 as compensation, he said.
The injured would also get up to Rs 400,000, depending upon the nature oftheir injuries, he said.
Ministers of State for Railways O Rajagopal and Digvijay Singh were also with Kumar.
Probe: P.K. Sen, Commissioner of Railway Safety, Bangalore, will conduct the probe into the mishap on June 25 and 26 at the Kozhikode railway station, a Southern Railway spokesman told PTI.
'Regular Track Renewal Essential': Regular track renewal is essential to avert recurrence of rail tragedies in the country, former Railway Board chairman M.N. Prasad said in Thiruvananthapuram onFriday.
"Kadalundi rail tragedy is yet another danger signal. Rail fractures are showing a year to year increase. Every day,15 to 20 rail accidents are reported. Hence, proper and regular renewal of tracks is essential to avoid accidents," Prasad said.
"Now that the focus is on guage conversion and track doubling, track renewal often runs into arrears. More fundsand men were needed for regular upkeep of the tracks," he said.
Stating that there was nothing wrong with the terrain in Kerala, Prasad added that in most of the cases, derailmentswere caused by the presence of sharp curves.
"Despite problems like paucity of funds and proper upkeep, the accident rate is low inIndia when compared with the total train kilometres run", he said. (PTI)
