Cause of Odisha train disaster identified: India's railways minister

India's Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today said the triple-train accident in Indian state of Odisha, which left at least 288 people dead, happened due to a change in electronic interlocking.

"The commissioner of Railway Safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it ... It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking," ANI quoted Vaishnaw as saying.

Two days after one of India's worst train accidents at Bahanga Bazar in Odisha's Balasore district, much of the rail tracks have been cleared of wrecked railway coaches by a team of railway workers aided by of bulldozers and giant cranes so that railway services on the rail link between eastern and southern parts of India can be restored, railway officials said today.

The Chennai-bound Coromandel Express carrying around 1,500 passengers had crashed into a stationary freight train at Bahanaga Bazar station on Friday night, killing at least 288 and injuring 1,000 passengers. The derailed bogies of the train were rammed into by another express train coming from Bengaluru to Kolkata.

Initial findings suggested that a "mistaken" signal possibly led to the Coromandel Express entering a side track, called loop line, on which a goods train was parked a few metres ahead. According to a preliminary probe by senior railway officials, the line on which the two trains collided was "partially corroded".