Thursday, April 21 2005 11:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Samaliya (Gujarat): Human error is primarily responsible for the collision between Ahmedabad bound Sabarmati express and a goods train near Samaliya today (Apr 21, 2005), 30 kms from Vadodara, claiming 17 lives, a senior railway official said.

"Prima facie it appears to be a human error on the part of the staff at B Cabin in Samaliya," General Manager of Railways M Ansari told sources at the site of the mishap.

He said, "The guard on duty is untraceable, and the Railways is doing everything to help the victims."

Meanwhile, the officials are trying to cut open the compartments using gas cutters to find out if there are any more passengers trapped inside the coaches.

About eight coaches of both the trains have been completely damaged, Railway sources said. Some of the coaches were new and thus could withstand the impact of the mishap while others were badly mangled.

Efforts are on to remove the coaches from the tracks and restore normal traffic, they added.

The collision occurred at 03:30 hrs (IST) and most of the injured were admitted to Vadodara Hospital, railway officials said.

Several special trains have left for the mishap site.

The railway tracks on Vadodara-Delhi route has been disrupted and several trains have been diverted, Railway officials said.