The toll in Saturday’s derailment of the Mumbai-bound Gyaneswari Express rose to over 148 on Sunday as more bodies were extricated from the wreckage of the mangled coaches. “All bodies from the spot have been recovered. Train services along the route resumed at 2.50 am Sunday morning,” South Eastern Railway’s Kharagpur divisional railway manager Anil Handa said.
District magistrate N.S. Nigam and hospital sources put the toll at 148.
All trains plying in the Sardiha and Khemasuli route in West Midnapore district will now have a speed limit of 15 kmph, Mr Handa said.
Around 145 passengers are being treated in various hospitals in Midnapore, Kharagpur and Kolkata, he added.
The Maoist-backed People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), which was alleged to have been responsible for the derailment, on Sunday disowned any hand in it and accused the CPI(M) of “hatching the plot”.
Said PCPA convenor Asit Mahato: “We have no intention to target trains, and we condemn and mourn such a colossal loss of civilian lives.”
A six-member state CID team headed by additional DGP Raj Kanojia, accompanied by forensic experts, visited the derailment site on Sunday. —PTI