Authorities in India are now trying to understand the causes of the train tragedy that claimed the lives of at least 288 people, assuring that “no one responsible” for the accident will be spared.

Search and rescue operations for victims have been completed and inquiries have now begun to establish exactly how the accident occurred.

At least 288 people were killed and 900 were injured. But the death toll could rise to 380, according to Odisha state fire chief Sundhansu Saranji.

“Human error”

There is confusion at the moment, but the Times of India, citing the preliminary report, reports today that “human error» may have caused the three-train collision, one of the worst rail tragedies in Indian history.

The Coromandel Express, plying the Calcutta-Madras route, was cleared to enter the Central Railway line, but due to human error entered another in which there was already a commercial train, the police explain.

The passenger train collided with the commercial train at a speed of 130 kilometers per hour. Three coaches fell onto the adjacent railway track, hitting the rear of an express train running the Bangalore-Calcutta route. That collision caused the most damage, the Times adds.

Yesterday Saturday the media, citing railway officials, had spoken about signaling error.

“No one responsible” for the accident will be spared, vowed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the scene of the tragedy yesterday and the injured in hospital. “I pray that we will overcome this sad moment as soon as possible,” he stressed.

Friday’s rail accident is India’s deadliest since 1995, when two express trains collided near Firozabad, killing more than 300 people.

India has experienced many rail tragedies in the past, but in recent years the safety of the network has improved significantly, thanks to investment and technological development.

The country’s worst rail accident was on June 6, 1981, when seven carriages of a train crossing a bridge fell into the Bagmati River, killing 800-1,000 people.