Railway services resume at crash site in eastern India

NEW DELHI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Normal rail traffic has resumed both ways at the site where the triple-train crash had occurred on Friday in India's eastern state of Odisha, claiming 275 human lives, announced the federal Ministry of Railways on Monday.

Around 1,175 people were injured in the accident, which is being described as the worst in the past decade in the country.

Two passenger trains crashed into a stationary goods train in the Balasore district of Odisha on Friday evening. The two passenger trains were seen placed atop each other. The dead bodies of the victims were retrieved by cutting the trains' compartments with the help of gas cutters and heavy machinery.

"The restoration work was completed with continuous monitoring by the Minister of Railways and both Up and Down Lines were declared fit. The first train was run on Down Line at 10:40 p.m. on June 4 and the first train ran on Up Line at 12:05 a.m. on June 5. Normal traffic movement has resumed on both the lines," said the Indian Railways in a statement.

Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw has been camping at the crash site since Saturday morning, personally overseeing the rescue and restoration works.

Meanwhile, the federal government has assigned a probe into the crash by the country's ace investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).