Amritsar tragedy: Train services resume after 40 hours
Train services on the Amritsar track accident site resumed on Sunday afternoon after more than 40 hours of the incident, as protesters were cleared off the tracks, confirmed a railway spokesperson. The railways got the clearance from local authorities at 12:30 pm, he added.
"First goods train started from Manawala to Amritsar at 1416 hours," said Northern Railways spokesperson Deepak Kumar, adding the train will be followed by mail/express trains.
“Train services have resumed on the affected rail track (Joda Phatak). A goods train was allowed to run on this track," said Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (Railways), Firozpur Division, S Sudharkar.
Protesters were cleared off the track by Punjab Police earlier in the day.
According to officials, the agitated protestors resorted to stone-pelting and clashed with security personnel when they were removed.
A Punjab police commando and a photojournalist were injured during the clash, they said.
The protestors raised slogans against the state government and demanded resignation of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
The Punjab Police has deployed commandoes and personnel to manage the crowd at the accident site, officials said.
59 people were killed as a speeding train mowed down crowd gathered for Dussehra celebrations in Amritsar on Friday. 40 out of those killed have been identified.
