NDRF responded swiftly, reached Odisha train accident site at earliest: Union Minister

New Delhi [India], June 6 : Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra on Monday said that National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) responded swiftly in carrying out rescue and relief work in the wake of train accident in Odisha in which 275 people lost their lives.

"NDRF responded swiftly and reached the Odisha train accident site at the earliest. This force has earned many accolades internationally also," Mishra told reporters.

He said the Railway Minister had answered queries regarding the accident.

Earlier, a 10-member CBI team reached the site of train accident in Odisha's Balasore on Tuesday as part of its investigations into the tragedy that took place on June 2.

The CBI is probing the accident that involved two passenger and a goods train.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said on Sunday said that the Railway Board had recommended a CBI probe into the tragic accident.

The minister had also said that the accident occurred due to a "change in electronic interlocking".

Electronic interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that facilitates the safe movement of a train through an arrangement of tracks.

The aim of this system is that no train gets the signal to proceed unless the route is safe.

The Railways is also conducting a probe into the accident.

The three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods trains on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in the Balasore district.