NEW DELHI, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- India's railway minister has called Tuesday's head-on collision of two passenger trains, in which 37 people died, a "brutal murder."
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said two stationmasters would be charged with culpable homicide for allowing the trains to run on the same track, the Times of India reported Wednesday.
"It is not an accident but a brutal murder," the minister told reporters at the site of the crash in Punjab state in India's northwest. He put the death toll at 37 and said the number of seriously injured was 16.
A "communications snag" between stationmasters at two stations apparently caused the crash, with an express train and a local train allowed to travel toward each other on the same track, said Dharam Singh, the top railway official in the area.
The accident highlighted blind spots in India's huge train network, often criticized for poor safety standards. It was India's second major train accident this year. In June, a high-speed train derailed after hitting boulders on a track in western Maharashtra state, killing 14.
As of Wednesday morning the tracks had been restored and local trains were operating.
