Punjab train accident: Amarinder visits injured, orders magisterial inquiry

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy.

The chief minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived this morning to assess the damage.

"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Singh said while talking to media.

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

At least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to railway tracks.

He said compensation of Rs 500,000 each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.

Fifty-nine people were killed and 57 injured in the accident, he said, adding except nine, most of the bodies have been identified.

After landing at the Amritsar airport, Singh reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of the crisis management group and took stock of the relief work.

He was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister O P Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others.