The toll in the train collision at Sainthia station in Birbhum district rose to 66 on Tuesday with three injured passengers of the Vananchal Express succumbing to injuries at the Burdwan Medical College Hospital.
A speeding express train rammed into the rear of another killing 60 people and injuring over 150 at the Sainthia station in Bhirbhum district of West Bengal, apparently after overshooting the signal in the early hours on Monday.
Union Minister of Railways Mamta Bannerjee, who is extremely perturbed by the disastrous train mishap in West Bengal early on Monday morning, has asked her ministry to carefully oversee the postmortem of M C Dey, the driver of the New Coochbehar-Sealdah Uttarbanga Express, which rammed into Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express in Sainthia station of Birbhum district, killing 62 people and injuring 92 others.
Heavy-duty gas cutters were being brought from Panagarh to extricate people trapped in the mangled coaches of the Vananchal Express which was hit in the rear by the Uttarbanga Express early on Monday morning at the Sainthia station.
They have been working tirelessly but silently since the Uttarbanga Express crashed into the Vananchal Express at the Sainthia station in Birbhum district, ferrying the injured, donating blood and helping out in the morgue.
"We have some doubts in our mind. Whatever has happened is not a casual thing. We will take strong steps against those who are behind this," she said.
Two days after Monday's train disaster at Sainthia in Birbhum district, the cause of the collision that snuffed out 66 lives still remains a riddle.
Train services on the Khana-Rampurhat section of the Howrah division in Birbhum district, where a high speed express collided with another, were restored on Tuesday.
"Nothing can be ruled out. It may be possible that our equipment might have been tampered with. It will be known only after inquiry)," Eastern Railways General Manager V N Tripathy told PTI.
Preliminary probe into Monday's train mishap has indicated that Uttarbanga Express was moving at a speed of over 60 km per hour, nearly 40 km per hour more than the limit, and overshot the signal resulting in the fatal incident.
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