"Even after I applied emergency breaks, some people were hit by the train. When it was slowing down and about to halt, people started pelting stones at the train. Concerned about security of the passengers, I moved the train to the next station, where I informed the officials about the accident," the driver said.
The Railways has absolved the driver of any blame with the minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha ruling out any punitive action against him. The minister said drivers are given specific instructions on where to slow down the train. "There was a curve. The driver couldn't have seen it. What should we order an inquiry about? Trains travel in speed only," said Sinha on Saturday when he was asked if an inquiry would be ordered against the driver.
Vivek Kumar, the Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozpur, had also said the driver has been questioned but no lapse could be found at his end. Kumar had said that while the train was travelling at a speed of 91 km/hr but after spotting the crowd on the track, it slowed down to 68 km/hr before the first impact. The train was running at its assigned speed and initial reports suggest that the driver applied brakes and the train slowed down, he said.
On Friday, a 700 strong crowd watching a huge Ravan effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilled on to the tracks at Joda Phatahk here when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down around 7 p.m.
In just 10-15 seconds it left behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies. At least 59 people were killed in the accident.
(With inputs from agencies)