Jajpur: A senior railways official arrived here today to conduct an inquiry into the tragic incident at the Jajpur-Keonjhar Road station wherein on Wednesday six labourers were killed after rakes of a stationary goods train without engine ran over them.
The railway official, however, refused to give any comment on the tragic incident.
“Right now no comments, we are investigating. We will complete it at the earliest. It’s going on,” the railway official said.
He said that they will be submitting their report very soon.
“We are from the recording and investigating unit. It will take time. Please let us do our job,” the official said.
On being asked whether he has come from Bhubaneswar, the official answered in the affirmative while avoiding to disclose his name to media persons.
The tragic incident occurred while a group of labourers sought shelter beneath the rakes to protect themselves from sudden rain and thunderstorm.
“Suddenly between 4-4.30 PM on Wednesday bogies without engine kept on the other end suddenly started moving and hit the bogies kept at this end. There was a gap. Some people had taken shelter under these bogies and were suddenly crushed,” said Motilal, a local resident.
Motilal has blamed the railways for the negligence which cost six precious lives.
“It’s a major mistake and negligence on the part of the railways. The bogies should have been locked or restrained from movement. Since those were not locked it started moving under the impact of the gusting wind,” said Motilal.
Motilal said that the men who were killed were working on the railway track and as there was sudden rain and thunderstorm they moved beneath the stationary rakes to protect themselves and were crushed when those started moving suddenly.
These bogies are lying here for around 4-5 years, Motilal added.
“This is an act of negligence and irresponsibility on part of the railways for sure,” he asserted.
On the other hand, an official of the railways had said on Wednesday that approximately 30 reserve carriages without an engine had been stationed on that line for the past few months and were carrying sand and crushed stone to be used in case of washouts during heavy rains in the monsoon.
