Officials in India revealed Sunday that one train involved in the Friday crash was given the wrong signal, which lead to the impact.
The search for survivors in a train crash in Bahanaga ended Saturday, with the death toll at 288. Some 803 were injured in the crash and subsequent derailment on Friday, which is considered the worst such incident in over 20 years. Rescue workers used equipment on-site on Saturday to assist in retrieving bodies trapped in various train cars.
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Senior railway official Jaya Verma Sinha revealed that a preliminary investigation initially found the correct signal was given to the high-speed Coromandel Express to run on the main track line. Then the signal changed, and the train instead entered the adjacent loop line where it rammed into a freight loaded with iron ore.
Officials still have not determined if the signal change was a technical or human error.
Two South Eastern Railway passenger trains containing 2,300 passengers total were derailed in the crash, which also involved one goods train.
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Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw promised that families of the dead will receive 1 million rupees, worth $12,000, while the seriously injured will get 200,000 rupees, or about $2,421, with 50,000 rupees, or just over $600, for minor injuries.
Indian railways typically transport 13 million passengers every day.
