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Authorities on Monday suspended four senior railway officials have been suspended after a weekend train accident that killed 20 passengers in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh on the weekend.
TheNewsGuru reports as many as 100 passengers were injured, and more than 20 dead when 14 coaches belonging to an express passenger train derailed late Saturday near the town of Khatauli in northern India.
Negligence is being investigated as a cause for the accident. A probe has been ordered into the accident.
Four senior engineers and divisional officers were suspended from their duties after Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu promised to take action against alleged negligence, railways spokesman Anil Saxena said.
Three more officials, including a railway board member, were sent on leave, while a chief track engineer was transferred from his position.
Railway officials have said there was repair work going on on the tracks and that they had informed the Khatauli station about it.
According to local media citing railway sources, the accident most likely occurred due to the negligence of railway staff, as the driver of the train was not aware that maintenance work was being carried out on the track.
There have been several rail accidents in India during the past year, including three in Uttar Pradesh.
An Uttar Pradesh crash in November left 149 people dead, making it the deadliest train accident in the country in the past five years.
According to a Railway Board report, poor maintenance and failure to upgrade ageing equipment has led to serious safety hazards.