Railway services have resumed nearly 50 hours after a deadly three-train crash in India left at least 275 people dead and about 1,100 passengers injured.
Work was completed on the stretch of track at Balasore in Odisha state after the two passenger trains and a freight train crashed into each other in one of the worst train disasters in the country in decades.
A freight train started its journey on the restored tracks near Bahanaga railway station late on Sunday, followed by a semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express train on Monday.
The freight train was flagged off by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The train – the first to run on the stretch of track since the accident – was carrying coal and headed to Rourkela Steel Plant in Odisha from a port in the southern city of Vizag. It started the journey at about 10.40pm.
Passenger train services have also resumed on the stretch.
“Down-line restoration complete. First train movement in section,” he wrote alongside a video on Twitter.
On Friday, 21 coaches from the Coromandel Express, which runs between the eastern cities of Kolkata and Chennai, and the Howrah Superfast Express, travelling north between the cities of Bengaluru and Howrah, derailed near Bahanaga station at about 7pm.
The Coromandel Express was travelling at 128kph while the other passenger train was travelling at 126kph, railway officials said.
A freight train standing on an adjoining track was also involved.
There were more than 3,400 passengers travelling in the two trains.
More than 1,000 workers were involved in restoration work at the site. Heavy machinery, including a 140-tonne railway crane and four road cranes, was used.
The workers cleared the mangled heap of coaches that had either derailed or mounted one another due to the powerful force of the collision. They laid fresh tracks and repaired overhead wires.
On Sunday, officials said the crash was probably caused by human error.
Mr Vaishnaw said it happened due to “a change in electronic interlocking”.
An electronic interlocking system prevents the routes of different trains coming into conflict through the arrangement of the tracks. The aim of the system is to ensure no train is given the signal to proceed unless the route is proven safe.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
