NEW DELHI: Two train accidents in five days had a fallout today with its minister Suresh Prabhu indicating he had offered to quit and Railway Board Chairman AK Mital resigning with Air India chief Ashwani Lohani, a railway enginner, named as his successor.
Hours after the second derailment today, Prabhu, 64, said he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking “full moral responsibility” for the back-to-back accidents that triggered calls for his resignation from the Congress. Prabhu said the prime minister had asked him to “wait”, suggesting he had offered to quit.
Thirteen coaches of the Kalinga Utkal Express derailed in Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh on August 19 killing 22 people and injuring 156 while 10 coaches of Kaifiyat Express train derailed in UP’s Auraiya district today after crashing into a dumper which strayed onto the tracks. Police said about 100 passengers were wounded in today’s derailment.
Prabhu met the prime minister after a meeting of the Cabinet today and left the city soon after, his staff told reporters.
“I met the Hon’ble Prime Minister @narendramodi taking full moral responsibility,” Prabhu said in a tweet. The prime minister, he added, had asked him to wait. (AGENCIES)
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