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D Jose in Calicut
The cause of the train mishap that claimed 57 lives in Kerala on Friday evening is a subject of much speculation here.
While some believe that eight bogies of the Mangalore-Madras Mail derailed due to the collapse of the 100-year-old steel bridge it was crossing, others attribute the mishap to damaged girders on the track. A third version is mechanical trouble in the bogies.
The railway authorities are expected to come out with the official version after the commissioner for railway safety from Bangalore inspects the site on Saturday morning.
Eyewitnesses supporting the bridge collapse theory said 11 of the 19 coaches had crossed the bridge, before the remaining eight coaches derailed. Four of them fell into the river.
The bridge constructed during the British rule was due for replacement. The railways had started work on the alternate bridge nearby.
Some survivors said that they had experienced a strong jerk before the accident. Local people found two broken girders at the accident site.
One survivor said he heard a continuous grating noise. A retired railway official said that the bogies might have derailed even before the train entered the bridge.
Railway sources at Calicut told rediff.com that the toll is not likely to increase substantially since most of the passengers trapped inside the submerged bogies have been extricated.
Track restoration is, however, likely to take time.
This is the worst railway mishap to hit Kerala after the 1998 Perumon tragedy, in which 105 persons perished.
Passenger Information Centres Chennai: 044-- 535 48 54 Mangalore: 0824 -- 42 31 37 Palghat: 0491 -- 55 53 37 Trivandrum: 0471 -- 518700, 333198 Calicut: 0495-- 701234
ALSO SEE 34 bodies identified Rescue work continues despite rain Survivors in a state of shock Anxious relative flood Calicut hospital
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