In Pics: Restoration Work Underway at Odisha's Balasore After Deadly Rail Mishap

The section is set to be fully operational by Wednesday, said Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Workers at the mishap site.

(Photo: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI)

Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, on the night of Sunday, 4 June, saw off the first goods train to cross the section where the horrific triple train mishap occurred in Odisha's Balasore on Friday, 2 June. The goods train, which carried coal, was headed towards Rourkela from Visakhapatnam – and it was on the same track as the Bangalore-Howrah that met with the accident, as per The Indian Express.

Two more goods trains passed through the same section later on Sunday night. "Our target is to finish the restoration work by Wednesday morning [7 June] so that trains can start running on this track," the Union Minister told the media. In the photo, workers are seen restoring the train tracks at the mishap site.

Speaking to reporters, Vaishnaw said that an underlying issue in the point machine and electronic interlocking system caused the crash, which claimed the lives of 275 people and injured over 1,000.

"It is about a point machine, electronic interlocking. The change that occurred during electronic interlocking, the accident happened due to that. Whoever did it and how it happened will be found out after proper investigation," he said.

The Union Minister has been at the site since the night of Saturday, 3 June. He demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the crash.

Railway officials announced on Sunday that a dedicated team used bulldozers and cranes to successfully clear the wrecked railway coaches from most of the railway tracks overnight and reported ongoing efforts to repair the damaged tracks and overhead electric lines that had snapped during the incident.

Speaking about the rescue operations and the search for the missing persons, the Union Minister said, as per The Indian Express: "With full sympathy, those who lost their loved ones, we have to make sure their bodies reach them. Our obligation towards them is not over."

The three-way accident involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Express, the Coromandel Express, and a goods train at the Bahanaga Bazar Station in Balasore district, occurred late on Friday, 2 June. 17 coaches of these two trains have been derailed and severely damaged.

Wreckage from the deadly crash.